Chris Williams, Like Jonny Kim, Gets To ISS On A Russian Ride…

There was a time when our national pride would have made this unthinkable: our last two NASA astronauts to reach the International Space Station have arrived there by "hitching a ride" -- with the Russian space program, each time.

But I suppose another way to look at it is that there is now friendly international cooperation in space science that may not prevail between the more political types in each country. Here's the latest, from Thanksgiving Day:

. . .NASA astronaut Chris Williams, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, safely arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, expanding the orbiting laboratory’s crew to 10 for the next two weeks.

The trio launched aboard the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After a three-hour, two-orbit journey, the spacecraft docked at 7:34 a.m. to the space station’s Rassvet module. . .

Now you know. Annual Dim Sum family lunch up next, in Chinatown. . . grin!

नमस्ते