Spacecraft Relocation Aboard The ISS Provides Stunning Views [Videos]

Crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) relocated the Soyuz MS-23 to another side of the orbiting laboratory this week. It was a short move, but the videos taken during the event show some pretty fascinating views.

Three members of Expedition 69 hopped into the Soyuz MS-23 for the relocation Thursday. Like moving parking spaces, NASA’s Frank Rubio and Roscosmos’ Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin rode the spacecraft as it undocked from the Poisk module on the space-facing side of the ISS to move it to the Prichal module, which is on the Earth-facing side, NASA explained.

The relocation was a success, and live coverage of the entire relocation process was available via NASA Television. The agency also shared footage of the key moments of the short ride. In a tweet, for instance, it shared a video of the Soyuz’s successful undocking from its old location at 4:45 a.m.

The video shows the slow yet intense-looking moment the Soyuz separated from the orbiting laboratory. Once it had completely undocked, one can see a rather majestic view of the Soyuz with the deep darkness of space behind it.

The live coverage shows the spacecraft’s full journey, and before long the Earth can finally be seen behind it. The Soyuz successfully moved to its new location in just less than an hour.

Footage shared in another tweet shows the moment the spacecraft gently docked into the Prichal docking module. This time, the stunning view behind it is of the slowly-rotating Earth, making for a pretty special view of our planet.

“After a couple of hours of pressure and leak checks, the Soyuz and Prichal hatches opened with assistance from Roscosmos Flight Engineer Andrey Fedyaev,” NASA noted. “Rubio, Prokopyev and Petelin then reentered the station, completed some Soyuz closeout tasks and went to sleep early. They will be back on duty Friday for ongoing microgravity research and upcoming mission preparations.”

This week’s move was the 26th spacecraft relocation aboard the ISS, according to NASA. It was done to make space for the uncrewed Roscosmos Progress 84 resupply mission, which is expected to arrive later in the year. This also frees the Poisk airlock for a series of planned spacewalks in April and May, the agency said.

As for the Soyuz MS-23, it will be the ride home for the very same three crew members who moved it. They are expected to come back to Earth in September.