Soyuz Return-to-Flight Launch Photos: Expedition 58 Crew Lifts Off for Space Station

Meet the Soyuz

Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor

The workhorse Soyuz spacecraft have been flying for nearly 45 years. See how Russia's Soyuz spacecraft work in this Space.com infographic.

A Fast Trip to Space

Karl Tate, Space.com Infographics Artist

By compressing flight tasks, crews going to the International Space Station can make the trip in one-eighth the time. See how Russia's fast-track 6-hour Soyuz flights to the space station work in this Space.com infographic.

Ready for Launch

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

The Soyuz booster rocket and crew capsule are seen on the launchpad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan before launch.

All Eyes on Boosters

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

The Soyuz rocket engines on display before launch, with four boosters in the corner. Last crew launch, on Oct. 11, 2018, a failure during booster separation sent two astronauts plummeting back to Earth.

Two Crews of Three

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

The lead crew of Expedition 58 (NASA's Anne McClain, the Canadian Space Agency's David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos's Oleg Kononenko) were joined by their backup crew (Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, and Andrew Morgan of NASA) before their launch.

Meet the Expedition 58 Crew

NASA/Elizabeth Weissinger

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques will be the next crew to travel to the space station and are pictured here in May 2018.

The Expedition 58 Backup Crew

NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

The crew of Expedition 58 were joined at the launch by their back-up crew, consisting of Drew Morgan of NASA, Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Rocket...

NASA/Victor Zelentsov

The Expedition 58 crew and backup crew checked out a model of their Soyuz ride before launch at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Fun with Spacesuits

NASA/Victor Zelentso

In this image, snapped Nov. 20, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques pose with the suits they will wear during their launch to the International Space Station on Dec. 3.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.