Watch: The 63rd crew took off to the space station * "The whole world joins the isolation on the station"

The 62nd team member, astronaut Jessica Meir: "I want to go back and meet friends, but this time it will be from a distance * I will miss the hug." Astronaut Chris Cassidy who arrived at the station yesterday: "Before we took off we were in isolation, but we didn't think the rest of the world would join"

The three members of the 63rd crew of the space station, astronaut Chris Cassidy and two cosmonauts from the Russian space agency Anatoly Ivanshin and Ivan Wagner arrived at the space station.
They were launched on April 9 aboard the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft after being in prolonged isolation at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.

The three temporarily restore the station's staff size to six people. The overlap with the members of the current team - Jessica Meir, Andrew Morgan and Oleg Skripochka will be short because they will return on April 17 to a different planet.

Cassidy will become commander of Expedition 63 upon the departure of Skripuchka, Morgan and Meier, who will return to Earth on Friday, April 17, aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, which will land in Kazakhstan.
This is the third space flight for Cassidy and Ivanshin, and the first for Wagner. The three are scheduled to return to Earth in October. In a little more than six months, they are planned to carry out 160 scientific studies in fields such as biology, earth sciences, human research, physical sciences and technological developments.

The members of the 63rd crew are supposed to be the ones to receive the first crew to be launched in a commercial spacecraft to the station. NASA astronauts Bob Banken and Doug Hurley will arrive on the test flight of SpaceX's manned spacecraft. which is currently planned for the second half of May.

The space station has been manned for almost twenty years. So far, 239 astronauts and cosmonauts from 19 countries have passed through it, and they have carried out over 2,800 studies by researchers and students from 108 countries. These are studies that cannot be carried out on Earth, mainly due to the gravity conditions.

But the current launch is different: "The feeling this time is different" said Cassidy. Before the launch he talked to his teammates about being quarantined in Russia. He said, "But we didn't know that the rest of the world would join us." He is because since he arrived in Russia, at the beginning of March, he has not met with anyone except the launch preparation team who were in isolation with them. "Even when we arrived in Baikonur, there is usually a commotion there, many senior officials come there to accompany the launch, and many press conferences are held." None of these people came and we held the press conference via video."
However, Cassidy added that although the current mission and launch were different due to the restrictions surrounding the pandemic, he looks forward to hosting his friends who will arrive on the commercial flight.

Morgan Meir and Cassidy held a press conference broadcast from the space station and naturally referred to the epidemic. In her opening remarks, Jessica Meir said that "all the staff members want to thank the doctors, nurses, all the medical personnel, policemen and firefighters, everyone who is on the front lines of the fight. You risk their lives to protect the entire human race. Thank you for your efforts.”

In response to one of the journalists' question, "What do you hear from family and friends about life on Earth. What do you expect to happen?” Meir answered: "It is indeed a surreal situation. As we look from the space station, the Orb looks fine, amazing as always, it's hard to believe that so much has changed since we launched. It will still be nice to go back and walk on the ground, see familiar places and familiar faces. No doubt it will be hard not to hug my family and friends but I know it will be a part of life for a while.

In fact we are isolated for a long time. It's part of our routine, and we're engaged in so many amazing pursuits and have a vantage point on Earth that we don't really feel the isolation. When everyone is at home, talk a lot with your loved ones. Of course it will be wonderful to see family members and friends, at least from a distance."