To prepare for the arrival of Soyuz MS-28 with three new crewmates, Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL cargo ship, the S.S. William C. "Willie" McCool, needed to be unberthed and held at a distance by the International Space Station's Canadarm2 robotic arm so as to give ample room for the docking.

A Soyuz rocket launched on Thursday carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikayev, as well as NASA astronaut Christopher Williams, for an eight-month mission to the International Space Station. The trio of astronauts arrived at the orbiting laboratory without incident.

A US and Russian crew of three launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, beginning what is expected to be an eight-month mission in Earth’s orbit. The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Mikaev and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov lifted off on schedule from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.