A Soyuz spacecraft launches from Kazakhstan carrying NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina on an eight-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch takes place from the Baikonur cosmodrome, with the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft departing in the evening local time, according to reporting from multiple outlets.
After liftoff, the crew completes a brief trip involving two orbits and a few hours in transit. The spacecraft then docks automatically to the ISS later the same day at the Prichal module. Once onboard, the three new crew members join the existing multinational ISS team, which includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, and Chris Williams, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and additional Roscosmos cosmonauts on the station.
Across the reports, the mission is consistently described as an approximately eight-month stay on the ISS under the Soyuz MS-29 flight plan, with docking scheduled shortly after arrival.
