NASA Publishes Image of Soyuz MS-15 from Space

NASA astronaut Christina Koch published a tweet on her account, including a photo of the Russian spacecraft.

The photo shows the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the space station: Russian astronaut Oleg Skripochka, US astronaut Jessica Meir and the first Emirati astronaut Hazza al-Mansouri as part of the 61st expedition, which will take eight days.

[caption id="attachment_81445" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Astronauts as they ascend the Soyuz[/caption]

The picture became even more special because it represented a beautiful moment for the friendship of Koch and Meir, who were training together, and enabled this task to be reunited on board the International Space Station, which is now crowded, with nine astronauts inside.

"This is what it looks like from the International Space Station, when your best friend fulfills her dream of going into space," Koch wrote in her tweet on September 25.

[caption id="attachment_81446" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft lifts off from the launch pad[/caption]

Meir and Skripochka are expected to stay on the space station until February, while their UAE colleague Hazza al-Mansouri will return to Earth one week later.