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BLAST OFF!<br />
News<br />
TIM’S TRIP: HOW DO YOU GET TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION?<br />
ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2015<br />
LAUNCH!<br />
After several months of training,<br />
Tim and his fellow astronauts board<br />
the Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan that<br />
will launch them into space. Within<br />
9 minutes of the launch, all three<br />
rocket stages have separated from the<br />
Soyuz capsule, having propelled it to<br />
an initial altitude of 208km.<br />
WAITING IN ORBIT<br />
As Soyuz orbits the Earth, its solar<br />
panels and radio antennae now<br />
deployed, the crew spend time making<br />
sure it’s ready to dock with the ISS<br />
once their paths align. Several engine<br />
burns are made to get the capsule to<br />
the correct altitude (around 400km)<br />
over the course of six hours.<br />
DOCKING<br />
The Soyuz capsule carefully<br />
approaches the ISS and slowly docks,<br />
with contact and capture occurring<br />
at 5:33pm, six-and-a-half hours after<br />
launch. Hooks are attached and the<br />
crew spend a couple of hours making<br />
sure the seals are secure, before<br />
finally boarding the space station.<br />
raspberrypi.org/magpi January 2016<br />
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