This Astronaut Photo of Her Friend

The very best view of right now’s crew launch turned out to be from the spacecraft’s vacation spot itself, the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and United Arab Emirates spaceflight participant Hazza AlMansoori blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan right now (Sept. 25) at 9:57 a.m. EDT (1457 GMT or 6:57 p.m. native time). They have been certain to affix a crew of six at the moment dwelling and dealing on board the Worldwide House Station, together with Meir’s astronaut coaching classmate, Christina Koch.

“What it appears to be like like from @Space_Station when your greatest pal achieves her lifelong dream to go to house,” Koch wrote in a tweet sharing the image yesterday (on Sept. 25). “Caught the second stage in progress! We are able to’t wait to welcome you onboard, crew of Soyuz 61!”

Associated: First UAE Astronaut Lifts Off with US-Russian Space Station Crew

Meir and Skripochka will stay on board the house station till February; their journey companion AlMansoori returns to Earth in only a week, as he’s a spaceflight participation. Koch shall be heading house with Meir and Skripochka, completing the longest single spaceflight by a woman. She arrived in orbit on March 14.

Earlier than turning into an astronaut, Meir skilled as a biologist, and she or he her analysis has included elevating a flock of geese. She has already accomplished a stint with NASA’s underwater analysis program.

E mail Meghan Bartels at mbartels@house.com or observe her @meghanbartels. Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.