Overview
- The Soyuz MS-29, which launched Tuesday from Baikonur, completed a two‑orbit, roughly three‑hour rendezvous and docked automatically to the ISS’s Prichal module.
- Anil Menon, making his first trip to space, arrived with Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina to join the station’s multinational crew.
- Menon is both a physician and a U.S. Space Force officer who will serve as a flight engineer and study how long‑duration microgravity affects blood flow, veins and blood composition.
- Planned technology demonstrations include producing sterile IV fluids from station water, AR/AI‑assisted ultrasound for autonomous medical care, semiconductor crystal growth, and bioprinting of vascular tissue.
- The crew will remain aboard for about eight months, returning in April 2027, and the mission underscores ongoing U.S.‑Russia crew‑exchange cooperation highlighted by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman’s attendance at the launch.