Amid War In Ukraine, U.S. Astronaut Joins Russian Cosmonauts In Launch To International Space Station

Russia's Soyuz-2.1a booster rocket stands on the launchpad on September 18 ahead of the mission.

Frank Rubio (left), the first U.S. astronaut to board a Soyuz spacecraft launch since April 2021, joins hands with Russian counterparts Sergei Prokopyev (center) and Dmitry Petelin (right) on September 20. A U.S. Army doctor and veteran pilot, Rubio said he will appreciate the chance to contribute to research on how long-term weightlessness affects the human body during his six months in space.

The Soyuz rocket, after being transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is lifted into a vertical position on September 18.

The rocket, after being hauled to the Russian-leased Kazakh space complex, is ready for its placement on the launch pad.

International observers gathered at Baikonur to document the Soyuz launch, part of a spacecraft seat exchange program between NASA and the Russian space program. Previously, NASA had paid for places on the Soyuz but the current arrangement involves no transfer of funds, according to U.S. government sources.

The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which dates from 1955 and was built by the Soviet Union, is the world's oldest spaceport for orbital launches. In the town of Baikonur, girls dance around the monument to the Soyuz rocket on September 17.

The Baikonur complex was originally built as a test site for intercontinental ballistic missiles. 

The Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew blasts off at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 21.