ALMATY, Kazakhstan — A three-man crew will blast off to the International Space Station on Friday in a capsule honoring the 60th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space.
Reminders of Gagarin’s achievement were everywhere at the Russia-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei prepared for their half-year mission aboard the orbital lab.
The Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft that the trio take off in at 0742 GMThas been namedafter the legendary cosmonaut and Gagarin’s portrait has been added to its exterior.
Gagarin also came up more than …
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