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New Crew Blasts Off Heading to Space Station Today

The Soyuz MS-11 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station at 6:31 a.m. EST Monday, Dec. 3 (5:31 p.m. in Baikonur) and have safely reached orbit.  At the time of launch, the station was flying about 250 miles over central Kazakhstan southwest of the capital of Astana, 405 miles ahead of the Soyuz as it leaves the launch pad.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Konenenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos have begun their six-hour trip to the orbital laboratory where they will live and work for the next six-and-a-half months.

The arrival will briefly restore the station’s crew complement to six as they join Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, who are scheduled to remain aboard the station until Dec. 20.

Just days after their arrival, the crew members will capture the SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft set to launch Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and deliver more than 5,800 pounds of critical research and supplies.

At 9:30 a.m., NASA TV will broadcast from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida a briefing to highlight the science and research on board the Dragon.

Following the science briefing, NASA TV will then broadcast beginning at 11:15 a.m. the arrival of the agency’s first asteroid sample return mission as the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is set to rendezvous with asteroid Bennu.

Coverage of the Soyuz docking to the International Space Station will begin on NASA TV’s media channel and the agency’s website beginning at 11:45 a.m. and be broadcast on all channels following the conclusion of OSIRIS-REx coverage expected at 12:15 p.m., with the spacecraft docking expected at 12:36 p.m.

Coverage of the hatch opening between the Soyuz and the space station will begin at 1:45 p.m.

For continued 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

Watch NASA TV Now to See New Crew Launch to Station

Live launch coverage is underway on NASA Television and the agency’s website for the targeted lift off at 6:31 a.m. EST (5:31 p.m. in Baikonur) of a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Konenenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will begin a six-hour journey to the International Space Station.

The three will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. The crew members will continue important research experiments in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

This is the first spaceflight for both McClain and Saint-Jacques and the fourth trip to the space station for Kononenko.

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

Live on NASA TV Now, Watch New Crew Blast Off to Station

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, teams are making final preparations for the launch of Anne McClain of NASA, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Konenenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos to the International Space Station. Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 6:31 a.m. EST Monday (5:31 p.m. in Baikonur). Live launch coverage will begin at 5:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The three will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst and Prokopyev are scheduled to remain aboard the station until Dec. 20; Expedition 58 officially begins when they undock from the space station.

McClain, Saint-Jacques and Konenenko will spend more than six months conducting hundreds of science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, providing the foundation for continuing human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Some of the investigations they will conduct are sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory on the space station, which Congress designated in 2005 to maximize its use for improving quality of life on Earth. Highlights of upcoming investigations include experiments in forest observation, robotic refueling, and satellite deployment.

Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EST:

Monday, Dec. 3

12:31:53am     6:00              Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
12:46:53am     5:45              Batteries installed in booster
1:16:53am     5:15              Crew arrives at Site 254
1:31:53am     5:00              Tanking begins
2:01:53am     4:30              Crew suit up
2:26:53am     4:05              Booster loaded with liquid oxygen
3:01:53am     3:30              Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
3:26:53am     3:05              First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
3:31:53am     3:00              Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for the launch pad
3:36:53am     2:55              Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
3:56:53am     2:35              Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
4:06:53am     2:25              Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
4:56:53am     1:35              Descent module hardware tested
5:11:53am     1:20              Hatch closed; leak checks begin
5:30:00am    1:01:53        NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
5:31:53am     1:00              Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation
5:45:00am      :46:53        NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities B-roll played)
5:46:53am       :45:00        Pad service structure components lowered
5:47:53am       :44:00        Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
5:54:53am       :37:00        Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
5:57:53am       :34:00        Emergency escape system armed
6:16:53am       :15:00        Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
6:21:53am       :10:00         Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
6:24:53am       :07:00         Pre-launch operations complete
6:25:53am       :06:00         Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
6:26:53am       :05:00         Commander’s controls activated
6:27:53am       :04:00         Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
6:28:53am       :03:00         Propellant drainback
6:29:10am       :02:43         Booster propellant tank pressurization
6:30:23am       :01:30         Ground propellant feed terminated
6:30:43am      :01:10       ISS flies directly over the Baikonur Cosmodrome
6:30:53am       :01:00         Vehicle to internal power
6:31:18am       :00:35         First umbilical tower separates
Auto sequence start
6:31:23am       :00:30         Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
6:31:38am       :00:15         Second umbilical tower separates
6:31:41am       :00:12         Launch command issued
Engine Start Sequence Begins
6:31:43am       :00:10         Engine turbo pumps at flight speed
6:31:48am       :00:05        Engines at maximum thrust
6:31:53am      :00:00       LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-11 TO THE ISS
6:40:38am       +8:45        Third stage shutdown; Soyuz orbital insertion

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.

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia