Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle coupled with Soyuz MS-25 crewed spaceship installed at Baikonur launch pad

BAIKONUR. March 18 (Interfax) - A Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle has been installed on a launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of preparations for sending the Soyuz MS-25 crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 21, an Interfax correspondent reported from the space center.

After putting the rocket in an upright position at Site 31 at Baikonur, Roscosmos specialists will continue preparing it for launch.

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft's launch to the ISS is scheduled for 4:21 p.m. Moscow time on March 21, 2024. The main crew includes Roscosmos Cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, Belarus's Marina Vasilevskaya, and NASA Astronaut Tracy Dyson. The backup crew comprises Roscosmos Cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, Belarus's Anastasia Lenkova, and NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit.

Novitsky and Vasilevskaya are to spend 12 days on the station and return to Earth along with NASA Astronaut Loral O'Hara on board the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft in March. Dyson's mission should continue until September, and she will return to Earth on board Soyuz MS-25 along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub.

As reported, Vasilevskaya's research program on board the station includes nine tasks in various fields of study.

Vasilevskaya is a flight attendant of the Belarusian national airline Belavia, and Lenkova is a children's surgeon at the Belarusian National Scientific and Practical Center.