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NASA TV Broadcasts Friday Launch to Station on Soyuz Crew Ship

A trio of space travelers, including NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, is scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 3:42 a.m. EDT (12:42 p.m. Kazakhstan time) Friday, April 9.

Beginning at 2:45 a.m., NASA Television, the agency’s website, and the NASA app will provide live coverage of the crew’s launch. Teams at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan are making final preparations for the liftoff of Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov.

The launch will send the crew members on a two-orbit, three-hour journey to the space station, where they will join the Expedition 64 crew, temporarily increasing the orbiting laboratory’s population to 10 people.

They will join NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins, who arrived on the station with Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos in October 2020, and the crew of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience – NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi – who have been in orbit since November.

It will be the second spaceflight for Vande Hei, the third for Novitskiy, and the first for Dubrov. The launch comes three days before the 60th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s launch to become the first human in space and the 40th anniversary of the first launch of NASA’s space shuttle.

During their six-month mission, the Expedition 65 crew will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity’s only permanently occupied microgravity laboratory. Work on the unique microgravity laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies, making research breakthroughs that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EDT:

April 8 EDT   L-Hr/M/Sec  Event

18:05:41pm   9:37:00         Crew wakeup at Cosmonaut Hotel (time appx)
21:05:41pm    6:37:00        Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel (time appx)
21:50:41pm    5:52:00        Crew arrives at Site 254
21:57:41pm    5:45:00        Batteries installed in booster
22:35:41pm    5:07:00        Crew suit up
22:42:41pm    5:00:00        Tanking begins
23:37:41pm    4:05:00        Booster loaded with liquid oxygen; crew meets with officials
23:56:41pm    3:46:00        Crew walkout from 254; boards bus for the launch pad

April 9 EDT

00:01:41am    3:41:00        Crew departs for launch pad at Site 31
00:37:41am    3:05:00        First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
01:11:41am    2:31:00        Crew arrives at launch pad at site 31
01:17:41am    2:25:00        Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
02:07:41am    1:35:00        Descent module hardware tested
02:22:41am    1:20:00        Hatch closed; leak checks begin
02:42:41am    1:00:00        Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation

02:45:00am     :57:41        NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS

02:57:41am      :45:00        Pad service structure components lowered
02:58:41am      :44:00        Clamshell gantry service towers retracted

03:05:00am     :37:41        NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities played (B-roll)

03:05:41am      :37:00        Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
03:08:41am      :34:00        Emergency escape system armed
03:27:41am      :15:00        Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
03:32:41am      :10:00        Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
03:35:41am      :07:00        Pre-launch operations complete
03:36:41am      :06:00        Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
03:37:41am      :05:00        Commander’s controls activated
03:38:41am      :04:00        Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
03:39:41am     :03:00        Propellant drainback
03:39:58am      :02:43        Booster propellant tank pressurization
03:41:11am      :01:30        Ground propellant feed terminated
03:41:41am      :01:00        Vehicle to internal power
03:42:06am      :00:35        First umbilical tower separates

Auto sequence start

03:42:11am      :00:30        Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
03:42:26am      :00:15        Second umbilical tower separates
03:42:29am      :00:12        Launch command issued

Engine Start Sequence Begins

03:42:31am      :00:10        Engine turbopumps at flight speed
03:42:36am      :00:05        Engines at maximum thrust
03:42:41am     :00:00        LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-18 TO THE ISS
03:43:23am     +:00:42      ISS FLIES OVER THE BAIKONUR COSMODROME
03:51:27am     +8:46         Third stage separation and orbital insertion for the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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Mark Garcia

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New Crew Launching Early Friday as Science Continues on Station

It is the day before three new Expedition 65 crew members launch and dock to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, three orbital lab residents are preparing to return to Earth while the rest of the crew studies space science and keeps the station in tip-top shape.

The Soyuz MS-18 rocket that will liftoff Friday at 3:42 a.m. EDT with one NASA astronaut and two Roscosmos cosmonauts was blessed on Thursday by a Russian Orthodox priest. The traditional ceremony takes place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad before each Soyuz crew mission.

Two veteran station residents, Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos, will take a ride to the station with first time space-flyer Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos. Novitskiy will lead the short space flight to the station’s Rassvet module where the Soyuz crew ship will dock at 7:07 a.m. The hatches will open about two hours later and the trio will join seven new crewmates for a welcoming ceremony with officials on the ground. NASA TV will broadcast the launch and docking activities beginning at 2:45 a.m.

Little more than a week after the new crew’s arrival, three Expedition 64 residents will end their stay in space and land on Earth inside the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, will undock from the Poisk module officially ending their mission on April 16 at 9:33 p.m. They will parachute to a landing inside their Soyuz crew ship less than three-and-a-half hours later in Kazakhstan.

Science is keeping pace aboard the space station as the crew explored biotechnology and fluid physics today. The astronauts also worked on life support systems and U.S. spacesuit components.

NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins observed protein crystal samples in a microscope for a study exploring the production of advanced medicines in space. Flight Engineer Victor Glover of NASA observed how fluids behave in microgravity to help engineers design optimal fuel tanks for satellites and spaceships.

Hopkins also serviced nitrogen and oxygen transfer gear inside the station’s Atmospheric Control System. Glover assisted NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker as she swapped parts on U.S. spacesuits. Finally, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi installed a materials exposure study in the Kibo laboratory module’s airlock where it will soon be placed into the harsh space environment for observation.

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Mark Garcia

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