Safety measures on Soyuz include custom-fitted liners for each crew member's seat. The return journey takes less than 3.5 hours.
Up to three crew members can launch and return to Earth in a Soyuz capsule. There is also the option for manual control by the crew. After reaching orbit, it spends two days chasing the station before automatically docking. The capsules are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. Since then, at least one Soyuz has always been at the space station to be used as an emergency "lifeboat" should the crew have to return to Earth unexpectedly.Īfter the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in 2003, the Soyuz became the only means of transportation for crew members going to or returning from the space station.Ī new Soyuz capsule is normally delivered to the station by a Soyuz "taxi crew" every six months - the taxi crew then returns to Earth in the older Soyuz capsule. The Russian Soyuz space capsule took the first crew to the International Space Station in November 2000.
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