Holiday travel reached new heights today (Nov. 27), as an American astronaut left home for Thanksgiving dinner — in Earth orbit.
NASA Astronaut Chris Williams, together with his crewmates Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, both Roscosmos cosmonauts, lifted off for the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. The US-Russian Soyuz crew launches to ISS on Thanksgiving Day, beginning a planned eight-month expedition as part of Expedition 74.
Chris Williams’ journey carries a profound family legacy. His uncle, civil rights historian Juan Williams, wrote in The Hill that Chris is the grandson of Panamanian immigrants, celebrating a mission of peace and science. “This Thanksgiving, I am grateful to live in a country where the grandson of Panamanian immigrants can represent America in the heavens,” his uncle noted.
Rapid Docking and Mission Details
The journey for the Soyuz MS-28 mission took significantly less time than his grandmother’s voyage to the US decades ago. Lifting off at 4:27 a.m. EST (0927 GMT or 2:27 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Williams, Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev achieved Docking in three hours later at 6:34 a.m. EST (1234 GMT) to the Rassvet module.
Flying under the call sign “Gyrfalcon,” the Soyuz MS-28 rocket was uniquely decorated with colorful drawings from pediatric cancer patients and portraits of the first ISS residents from 25 years ago.
Upon reaching orbit, weightlessness was signaled by two crocheted zero-g indicators: a ginger cat named “Gizmo” and a knitted cosmonaut made by students in Gagarin, Russia.
