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At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station. Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 4:40 a.m. EDT Thursday (2:40 p.m. in Baikonur). Live launch coverage will begin at 3:30 a.m. EDT on NASA Television and the agency’s website. At the time of launch, the space station will be flying over NE Kazakhstan at 254 statute miles.

The two will join Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency, NASA Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev, who arrived at the station in June.

The crew members of Expedition 57 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.

Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EDT:

EDT               L-Hr/M/Sec   Event

7:40:17pm     9:00                Crew wakeup at Cosmonaut Hotel
10:40:17pm   6:00                Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
10:55:17pm   5:45                Batteries installed in booster
11:25:17pm   5:15                Crew arrives at Site 254
11:40:17pm   5:00                Tanking begins
12:10:17am   4:30                Crew suit up
12:35:17am   4:05                Booster loaded with liquid Oxygen
1:10:17am    3:30                Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
1:35:17am    3:05                First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
1:40:17am    3:00                Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for the launch pad
1:45:17am    2:55                Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
2:05:17am    2:35                Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
2:15:17am    2:25                Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
3:05:17am    1:35                Descent module hardware tested
3:20:17am    1:20                Hatch closed; leak checks begin
3:30:00am   1:10:17          NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
3:40:17am    1:00                Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation
3:45:00am     :55:17          NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities B-roll played)
3:55:17am      :45:00          Pad service structure components lowered
3:56:17am      :44:00          Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
4:03:17am      :37:00          Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
4:06:17am      :34:00          Emergency escape system armed
4:25:17am      :15:00          Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
4:30:17am       :10:00          Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
4:33:17am       :07:00          Pre-launch operations complete
4:34:17am       :06:00          Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
4:35:17am      :05:00          Commander’s controls activated
4:36:17am       :04:00          Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
4:36:51am      :03:26        ISS flies directly over the Baikonur Cosmodrome
4:37:17am      :03:00          Propellant drainback
4:37:32am      :02:45          Booster propellant tank pressurization
4:38:47am       :01:30          Ground propellant feed terminated
4:39:17am      :01:00          Vehicle to internal power
4:39:42am      :00:35          First umbilical tower separates
Auto sequence start
4:39:47am      :00:30          Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
4:40:02am      :00:15          Second umbilical tower separates
4:40:05am      :00:12          Launch command issued
Engine Start Sequence Begins
4:40:07am      :00:10          Engine turbo pumps at flight speed
4:40:12am       :00:05         Engines at maximum thrust
4:40:17am      :00:00        LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-10 TO THE ISS
4:49:02am      +8:45         THIRD STAGE SHUTDOWN; SOYUZ ORBITAL INSERTION

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are in Kazakhstan less than a day away from launching to the International Space Station. They will blast off atop the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft Thursday at 4:40 a.m. EDT for a six hour ride to their new home in space.

They will meet their Expedition 57 crew mates aboard the orbital lab after their Soyuz crew ship docks to the Poisk module at 10:44 a.m. Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev will greet the new duo when the Soyuz hatch opens around 12:45 p.m.

The five-person crew will gather inside the Zvezda service module for a traditional crew greeting ceremony as family and mission officials on the ground offer their well-wishes. Shortly afterward, the two new crewmates will participate in a safety briefing then begin several days of familiarization with station systems.

NASA TV begins its live broadcast Thursday at 3:30 a.m. as the crew counts down to its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. NASA TV will be back on the air at 10 a.m. four orbits later as the Soyuz spacecraft approaches the station for docking. Finally, live coverage of the hatch opening and crew greeting begins at 12:15 p.m.

The next rocket that will launch NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos’ Alexey Ovchinin to the International Space Station stands ready at its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The duo will liftoff atop the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft Thursday at 4:40 a.m. EDT for a six-hour ride to their new home in space.

Hague and Ovchinin have been in final preparations at the launch site for two weeks of fit checks, Soyuz tests, procedure reviews and other traditional activities. This will be Hague’s first flight and Ovchinin’s second to the orbital lab.

Three Expedition 57 crew members aboard the space station await their new crewmates. Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineers Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev will greet the new duo Thursday when they aim to dock at 10:44 a.m. and open the Soyuz hatch around 1:10 p.m.

In the meantime, the orbiting trio today continued juggling a variety of science to improve life on Earth and maintenance to keep the station in tip-top shape. Gerst set up a microscope to observe the structure of protein molecules. Auñón-Chancellor brought in a small satellite deployer from outside the Kibo laboratory module after it deployed three CubeSats on Monday. Prokopyev worked on computers and life support gear throughout the station’s Russian segment.