The Rituals and Logistics of Reaching the International Space Station
In short: From railcar movements to ancient card games, preparing for a space mission is a blend of heavy engineering and human tradition. This video captures the final transition of a crew from Earth to the orbiting laboratory.
The video documents the final preparations for Expedition 25, featuring the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft moving to its launch pad on October 5. The mission, scheduled for October 8, carries Commander Alexander Kaleri, Scott Kelly, and Oleg Skripochka to join the existing crew of Doug Wheelock, Fyodor Yurchikhin, and Shannon Walker.
It also highlights the human side of spaceflight, such as the SpaceX Crew-13 tradition of playing cards before launch. This ritual, dating back to the shuttle era, involves the commander intentionally losing a game to 'burn off' bad luck before the 20-minute journey to the launch complex.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Expedition 25 Crew Readies as Rocket Rolls Out To Launch Pad
- Also: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 Suited, Ready for Their Ride to Launch Pad - NASA
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