How To Fly A Spaceship To The ISS: Orbital Mechanics And A Fancy Stick

How do astronauts get from Earth to the International Space Station ? Well , in a Soyuz space vehicle , of track . But do you know what kind of path the Soyuz takes to rendezvous with humanity ’s orbital frontier settlement ? It ’s probably not what you think .

On Friday , NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly will launch on a Soyuz spacecraft doom for low - Earth orbit . There , he will spend a twelvemonth aboard the International Space Station , making his the prospicient human place mission in NASA ’s history . In the latest episode of Smarter Every Day , host Destin talks with Kelly about his upcoming flight aboard the Soyuz , the “ fancy marijuana cigarette ” that astronauts use to reach the button in the spaceship ’s cockpit , and the experiments Kelly will be conducting aboard the ISS . Afterwards , Destin catches up with astronaut Reid Wiseman to talk about the unexpected ( albeit surprisingly approachable ) orbital mechanics of the Soyuz - ISS rendezvous . It ’s really , really great stuff :

BONUS : The European Space Agency has an informational TV on the Soyuz launch succession that admit a abbreviated glimpse of thethe fancy stick in action . Here it is , eternize in GIF form :