Today there are 67 percent more people working in space than there were the day before, now that NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin have arrived at the International Space Station. The two spacefliers were launched from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early today and took a six-hour ride aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft – using a fast-track trajectory that’s more efficient than the alternative two-day route. The Soyuz accommodates three people, but Russia left one seat empty this time around as a cost-saving measure. Fischer and Yurchikhin join NASA’s Peggy Whitson, Russia’s Oleg Novitskiy and France’s Thomas Pesquet in orbit, and will be in orbit for four and a half months. The crew will get a phone call from President Donald Trump on Monday, when Whitson breaks the U.S. record for most cumulative time in space (534 days).

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.