07/09/2016
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, astronaut Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS, of the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin of
Roscosmos officially joined their Expedition 48 International Space Station
(ISS) crew members on July 9 at 0626 UTC, when the hatches opened between their
Soyuz MS-01 and the space station. There now are four radio amateurs onboard
the ISS.
Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, of NASA, and Flight Engineers
Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos greeted the newcomers.
Rubins, Onishi, and cosmonaut Ivanishin replaced Expedition 47 Commander Tim
Kopra, KE5UDN; Flight Engineer Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS, and Yuri Malenchenko,
RK3DUP, who returned to Earth in mid-June after a little more than 6 months in
space.
Later this summer, Williams and Rubins are scheduled to install the first of
two international docking adapters, soon to launch to the ISS. The adapters
will allow commercial spacecraft to dock to the station in the near future when
transporting astronauts as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Rubins, Ivanishin and Onishi are scheduled to remain aboard the station until
late October. The trio launched early on July 7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome,
traveling to the ISS onboard an upgraded Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft on its maiden
voyage. Williams, Skripochka and Ovchinin will return to Earth in September.
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