Hi Mark!
The empty seat was going to be occupied for the return to Earth by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates. Before the events of this morning, the UAE astronaut and two other crewmembers were planned to be launched on Soyuz MS-12 next April. The UAE astronaut would come back to Earth on the Soyuz MS-10 that was launched this morning. Now that this morning's launch was unsuccessful, those plans are almost certainly going to be changed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_MS-12
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK or http://twitter.com/WD9EWK
On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 3:26 PM Mark D. Johns mjohns+K0JM@luther.edu wrote:
Does anyone know why there were only two aboard this Soyuz instead of the usual crew of three? -- Mark D. Johns KØJM / MØGZO / ex-9H3DJ / ex-KØMDJ Brooklyn Park, MN USA EN35hd