NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Alexander
Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka launched to the International Space
Station aboard their Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft at 6:10 p.m. CDT,
Thursday, (5:10 a.m. Friday local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan.
Kelly, Soyuz commander Kaleri and Skripochka are scheduled to dock
with their new home at 7:02 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 9. They will join
Expedition 25 crewmates Doug Wheelock, a NASA astronaut and the
station’s commander, NASA astronaut Shannon Walker and Russian
cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who have been aboard the station since
June 17.
On Saturday, coverage of the Soyuz docking will begin on NASA
Television at 6:30 p.m. NASA TV will return at 9:30 p.m. for coverage
of the hatches opening and the welcoming ceremony aboard the orbiting
laboratory. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink
information, visit:
The six-person crew will usher in the next decade of continuous human
presence on the station, continuing scientific research and station
maintenance activities. The station residents will welcome the crew
of the last flight of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-133 mission,
targeted to launch Nov. 1. The shuttle will deliver critical supplies
and the Permanent Multipurpose Module that will provide additional
storage for the station crew, and experiments may be conducted inside
it.
Yurchikhin and Skripochka are scheduled to conduct a spacewalk in
Russian Orlan suits in mid-November to work on science experiments
and hardware on the station’s Russian segment.
Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin, who launched to the station on June
15, are scheduled to return to Earth on Nov. 29. Before departing,
Wheelock will hand over command of the station to Kelly for
Expedition 26, which begins when the Soyuz TMA-19 undocks Nov. 29.
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, Russian cosmonaut Dimitry Kondratyev and
European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli will join Kelly, Kaleri
and Skripochka in orbit to complete the Expedition 26 crew. Their
Soyuz currently is scheduled to launch Dec. 13 and will dock to the
station on Dec. 15.
Expedition 25 crew member Walker is blogging about her experiences in
orbit. To read her blog and more information about the space station,
visit:
To follow Twitter updates from Expedition 25 crew member Wheelock and
Expedition 25/26 crew member Kelly, visit:
http://twitter.com/Astro_Wheels
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