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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.

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Mark Garcia

Spacewalk Preps and Muscle Research Keep Crew Busy

A Russian spacewalk is planned before three Expedition 57 crew members return to Earth aboard a Soyuz spacecraft just before Christmas. Meanwhile, in the middle of the spacewalk and departure preparations, the International Space Station residents today also explored how living in space impacts the human muscle system.

Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev will work outside the space station Dec. 11 to inspect the Soyuz MS-09 crew vessel. The first-time spacewalker will join veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko for a scheduled 6-hour inspection on the outside of the spaceship that will return the Expedition 57 crew home Dec. 19 U.S. time.

Prokopyev checked the Orlan spacesuits today that he and Kononenko will wear during the eighth spacewalk of the year. Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor assisted Prokopyev checking the Russian spacesuits for leaks.

Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor then moved on to a study that has been ongoing aboard the orbital lab since September of 2017 observing how muscles adapt to outer space. The duo set up the Columbus lab module for research operations and scanned their head and foot muscles with an ultrasound device. The data may help doctors improve fitness in space and develop treatments for muscle and aging problems on Earth.

Back on Earth, on opposite sides of the globe, a pair of rockets are getting ready to send a new crew and more science and supplies to the space station. Russia’s Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft will launch Kononenko and fellow crew members Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques from Kazakhstan to the station on Monday at 6:31 a.m. EST. The following day at 1:38 p.m. in Florida, the SpaceX Dragon will blast off to the station to deliver more than 5,600 pounds of cargo to resupply the station residents.

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Mark Garcia

Station Crews Ramping Up for Busy December

December is shaping up to be a heavy traffic period at the International Space Station. Two crews will swap places before Christmas and a U.S. spaceship will deliver new supplies and science. A Russian spacewalk is also planned for a crew vehicle inspection.

The Expedition 57 crew onboard the station today continued preparing for the upcoming missions while researching space science. Commander Alexander Gerst cleaned cooling loops in U.S. spacesuits as Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev prepared the Soyuz MS-09 crew vessel for next month’s undocking. Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor worked on commercial science gear, semiconductor crystal observations and space gardening.

Monday and Tuesday are launch days for a new crew and a cargo delivery. Two new astronauts and a veteran cosmonaut are set to blast off first on Monday at 6:31 a.m. EST aboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft. Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko flanked by new Expedition 58 Flight Engineers Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques will dock to the station’s Poisk module just six hours and five minutes later.

The very next day, the SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply ship will launch on its 16^th mission to the orbital laboratory with a variety of new science experiments at 1:38 p.m. Dragon will orbit Earth for two days before reaching a point about 10 meters from the station where it will be captured with the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Following those two critical arrivals at the orbital laboratory, cosmonauts Prokopyev and Oleg Kononenko will exit the station for the third Russian spacewalk of the year on Dec. 11. The duo will wear their Orlan spacesuits for about six hours of inspection work on the Soyuz MS-09 crew craft docked to the Rassvet module.

After the vehicle inspection, the Soyuz MS-09 will return to Earth Dec. 20 bringing home the Expedition 57 crew after six and a half months in space. Auñón-Chancellor and Gerst will sit on either side of Soyuz Commander Prokopyev as he leads the trio to a parachuted landing in Kazakhstan at 12:03 a.m.

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Mark Garcia

Russian, U.S. Spaceships Get Ready for Launch Ahead of Spacewalk

In a replay similar to the weekend before Thanksgiving, two rockets on the opposite sides of the world are poised to launch one day after another to replenish the International Space Station with a new crew and cargo.

Three new Expedition 58 crew members are preparing to blast off to the space station on a Russian Soyuz crew ship early next week. The following day, SpaceX will launch its Dragon cargo craft to the orbital lab atop a Falcon 9 rocket.

New astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques with veteran cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko will take a six-hour ride to the station on Monday Dec. 3. The trio will lift off inside their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft at 6:31 a.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. About six hours later they will reach their new home in space and dock to the Poisk module beginning a six-and-a-half-month mission.

The SpaceX Dragon is targeted to begin its ascent to space from the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 4. Dragon will orbit Earth for two days loaded with new science before it is captured with the station’s Canadarm2 and installed to the Harmony module.

Back in space, three Expedition 57 crew members are getting ready for the arrival of both spacecraft while staying focused on microgravity science and spacewalk preparations.

Commander Alexander Gerst and Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor trained for next week’s Dragon rendezvous and capture on a computer today. The duo also continued working on more life science and physics research. Gerst once again studied how protein crystals impact Parkinson’s disease to possibly improve treatments on Earth. Serena researched how cement hardens in space and continued setting up hardware for a semiconductor crystal experiment.

Cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev is configuring the station’s Russian segment for a spacewalk targeted for Dec. 11. He and Kononenko will inspect the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft docked to the Rassvet module before the Expedition 57 trio returns to Earth on Dec. 20.

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Mark Garcia

Human Research in Space; Next Crew Preps for Launch on Earth

The Expedition 57 crew aboard the International Space Station conducted human research and space physics today while maintaining life support systems. The space trio also continued U.S. and Russian cargo operations as another crew on Earth prepared for its launch early next week.

Commander Alexander Gerst started his day with astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and scanned her eyes with an ultrasound device helping doctors understand how microgravity impacts vision. Gerst then observed protein crystals associated with Parkinson’s disease to help improve treatments on Earth. Auñón-Chancellor jotted down her space experiences for a psychological study then set up hardware for a semiconductor crystal experiment.

Gerst also gathered items to be packed inside the next SpaceX Dragon cargo vessel due to launch Dec. 4 and arrive at the station for capture Dec. 6. Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev transferred fluids for disposal aboard the Russian Progress 70 cargo craft which will depart from the Pirs docking compartment Jan. 25.

Back on Earth in Kazakhstan, three Expedition 58 crew members are in their final week of mission preparations before beginning a six-and-a-half-month mission aboard the orbital lab. Astronauts Anne McClain and David Saint-Jacques will join Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko for a six-hour ride aboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft to the station. The new trio will launch Dec. 3 at 6:31 a.m. EST and dock to the Poisk module at 11:36 a.m. NASA TV will broadcast live the launch, docking and crew greeting.

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Mark Garcia