A new Russian-American crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday after a fast-track trip from Earth of under six hours, the swiftest ever manned journey to the orbiting laboratory.
A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts opened the hatches of their Soyuz-TMA spaceship and floated into the ISS to a warm welcome from the three incumbent crew, live pictures broadcast on Russian television showed.
Russia’s Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin; and American Chris Cassidy are now expected to spend the next five months aboard the station after their hitch-free launch and docking.
Their record-breaking trip from blast-off at Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to docking with the ISS lasted less than six hours, slashing the usual travel time by some 45 hours.
Previously, trips to the ISS had taken over two full days as spaceships orbited the Earth 30 times before docking with the space station.
However, under a new technique now employed by the Russian space agency with the help of new technology, the Soyuz capsule this time only orbited Earth four times before docking.
After blast-off at 2043 GMT Thursday, the Soyuz capsule docked with the ISS at 0228 GMT with the hatches opening just over two hours later.
The quick journey — dubbed by NASA’s official television commentator as a “chase into space” — has been made possible by launching the Soyuz just after the ISS passes overhead in orbit.
After reaching orbit, the Soyuz capsule then had just over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to make up to catch up with the ISS, which the Soyuz achieved with newly-improved thrusters and maneuvering.
The manned “express” flight comes after Russia successfully sent three unmanned Progress supply capsules in August, October and February to the station via the short six hour route rather than two days.
The successful fast-track voyage is a huge boost for the embattled Russian space program, whose reputation has been battered by several failed satellite launches in the last year.
However, there have been no problems to date with the manned spaceflight program.
After the retirement of the US space shuttle, Russia is now the sole nation capable of transporting humans to the ISS.
Ahead of the launch, the crew expressed satisfaction with the new fast-track schedule, including Vinogradov who at 59 is one of Russia’s most experienced cosmonauts.
Vinogradov, who spent 197 days on board Russia’s now defunct Mir space station in 1997-1998 and also flew to the ISS in 2006, said the shortened flight time has several advantages for the crew.
Firstly, as the crew only start to experience the tough effects of weightlessness after 4-5 hours of flight they will be in better shape when they arrive at the station for the docking procedure.
“During the initial time the crew feels completely normal and works normally,” he said at the pre-flight news conference at Baikonur in televised remarks.
Also, the reduced time means that the Soyuz capsule will be able to deliver biological materials for experiments aboard the ISS in time before they spoil, something that would not have been possible with a two-day trip.
“With such a short time the crew could even take an ice cream — it would not be able to melt,” said Vinogradov.
On board the three spacemen are joining incumbent crew of station commander Chris Hadfield of Canada, Tom Marshburn of NASA and Russia’s Roman Romanenko.
Hadfield has over the last months built up a huge following online with spectacular photographs on Twitter and managed to photograph from space the fiery moment of ignition of the Soyuz-FG rocket at the nighttime launch in Kazakhstan.
“Good morning, Earth! We’ve been up all night, getting the Soyuz safed and crew settled in. A long, great day. Six of us now here, together,” he said on Twitter.
Cassidy is a veteran of US special forces who has served in Afghanistan and recorded a 15-day mission to the ISS aboard the shuttle in 2009. Misurkin is making his first space flight.
Height of achievement: Earth to ISS in 6 hours
Height of achievement: Earth to ISS in 6 hours
Afghan barbers under pressure as morality police take on short beards
KABUL: Barbers in Afghanistan risk detention for trimming men’s beards too short, they told AFP, as the Taliban authorities enforce their strict interpretation of Islamic law with increasing zeal.
Last month, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it was now “obligatory” to grow beards longer than a fist, doubling down on an earlier order.
Minister Khalid Hanafi said it was the government’s “responsibility to guide the nation to have an appearance according to sharia,” or Islamic law.
Officials tasked with promoting virtue “are obliged to implement the Islamic system,” he said.
With ministry officials patrolling city streets to ensure the rule is followed, the men interviewed by AFP all spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
In the southeastern province of Ghazni, a 30-year-old barber said he was detained for three nights after officials found out that one of his employees had given a client a Western-style haircut.
“First, I was held in a cold hall. Later, after I insisted on being released, they transferred me to a cold (shipping) container,” he said.
He was eventually released without charge and continues to work, but usually hides with his clients when the patrols pass by.
“The thing is that no one can argue or question” the ministry officials, the barber said.
“Everyone fears them.”
He added that in some cases where both a barber and clients were detained, “the clients have been let out, but they kept the barber” in custody.
Last year, three barbers in Kunar province were jailed for three to five months for breaching the ministry’s rules, according to a UN report.
‘Personal space’
Alongside the uptick in enforcement, the religious affairs ministry has also issued stricter orders.
In an eight-page guide to imams issued in November, prayer leaders were told to describe shaving beards as a “major sin” in their sermons.
The religious affairs ministry’s arguments against trimming state that by shaving their beards, men were “trying to look like women.”
The orders have also reached universities — where only men study because women have been banned.
A 22-year-old Kabul University student said lecturers “have warned us... that if we don’t have a proper Islamic appearance, which includes beards and head covering, they will deduct our marks.”
In the capital Kabul, a 25-year-old barber lamented that “there are a lot of restrictions” which go against his young clients’ preference for closer shaves.
“Barbers are private businesses, beards and heads are something personal, they should be able to cut the way they want,” he said.
Hanafi, the virtue propagation minister, has dismissed such arguments, saying last month that telling men “to grow a beard according to sharia” cannot be considered “invading the personal space.”
Business slump
In Afghanistan, the majority are practicing Muslims, but before the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, residents of major cities could choose their own appearance.
In areas where Taliban fighters were battling US-backed forces, men would grow beards either out of fear or by choice.
As fewer and fewer men opt for a close shave, the 25-year-old Kabul barber said he was already losing business.
Many civil servants, for example, “used to sort their hair a couple of times a week, but now, most of them have grown beards, they don’t show up even in a month,” he said.
A 50-year-old barber in Kabul said morality patrols “visit and check every day.”
In one incident this month, the barber said that an officer came into the shop and asked: “Why did you cut the hair like this?“
“After trying to explain that he is a child, he told us: ‘No, do Islamic hair, not English hair’.”
