China News Agency, Moscow, April 9 (Reporter Wang Xiujun) The Russian National Aerospace Corporation announced on the 9th that it successfully launched the "Gagarin" spacecraft that day to send two Russian astronauts and one American astronaut to the space station.
According to sources, the "Soyuz-2.1a" rocket carrying the "Gagarin" spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan that day.
After that, the spacecraft separated from the rocket in a predetermined orbit, after orbiting the earth twice, overtook the International Space Station, and automatically docked with the space station's "Dawn" experimental module.
The "Gagarin" spacecraft carried three astronauts including Russian astronaut Oleg Nowitzki, Peter Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Van der Hey.
According to the plan, the three astronauts will be engaged in a total of more than 50 scientific researches involving aerospace medicine, cosmic ray physics, space materials science, and the development of space technology.
According to the news, they will also disassemble the docking module of the Russian-made "Dock" on the International Space Station in July this year, and let a cargo spacecraft send the docking module into the earth's atmosphere and burn it.
After that, they will welcome the Russian-built "Science" experimental cabin and dock it in the vacated position of the "Dock".
On April 12, 1961, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin completed the first space flight in human history. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Gagarin's space flight.
Therefore, the spacecraft responsible for the mission of transporting astronauts was named "Gagarin".
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