Yesterday, a Soyuz-2.1a rocket 🚀 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, sending the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft on a 242-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
The crew includes commander Sergei Kud-Sverchkov (on his second flight), rookie Russian cosmonaut Sergei Mikayev, and NASA astronaut Christopher Williams. The ship docked to the ISS's Rassvet module this morning at 7:34 a.m. EST.
For the first time ever, Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, has integrated its GigaChat neural network 🤖 on the ISS. This generative AI will help the crew automate reports, manage databases, and streamline daily tasks, so they can focus more on science and exploration.
During their stay, the trio will run over 40 experiments 🧪 under the Russian program. Two spacewalks are planned for April and June 2026: the first will install the Sun-Terahertz instrument to boost solar flare forecasting, and the second will maintain the Zarya module by swapping out aged components.
Bonus payload: direct descendants of fruit flies from the Bion-M No.2 biosatellite are also aboard, offering fresh insights into genetics in microgravity!
Get ready for a fusion of cutting-edge tech, AI hacks, and cosmic discoveries — this mission is set to keep us on the edge of our seats until next summer! 🌌
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
