Coverage Set For Next Soyuz Crew Launch to Space Station

HOUSTON — NASA Television will provide live coverage of next week’s launch and docking of the next trio of crew members who will fly to the International Space Station.

Expedition 33/34 NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin are scheduled to launch in their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft at 5:51 a.m. CDT (4:51 p.m. Baikonur time) Tuesday, Oct. 23, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA TV launch coverage will begin at 4:30 a.m., and include video of activities leading to the crew boarding its spacecraft.

Two days later, at 7:35 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 25, the trio will dock the Soyuz to the space-facing Poisk module of the orbiting laboratory. NASA TV docking coverage begins at 7 a.m. Approximately three hours later, hatches between the Soyuz and station will open and Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be greeted by Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams of NASA and Flight Engineers Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Russia’s Yuri Malenchenko. Hatch opening coverage begins at 9:45 a.m.

Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will remain aboard the station until March 2013. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide, who arrived at the complex in July, will return to Earth Nov. 19.

The full schedule of the Soyuz pre-launch, launch and docking includes coverage (all times are Central):

Thursday, Oct. 18
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 33/34 crew activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Saturday, Oct. 20
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 33/34 crew activities and Soyuz rocket mating in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Sunday, Oct. 21
11 a.m. — Video File of Expedition 33/34 Soyuz roll out to launch pad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Monday, Oct. 22
11 a.m. — Video File of Expedition 33/34 final prelaunch crew news conference and Russian State Commission meeting in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Tuesday, Oct. 23
4:30 a.m. — Expedition 33/34 Soyuz launch coverage (launch at 5:51 a.m.), includes video B-roll of crew pre-launch activities
9 a.m. — Video File of Expedition 33/34 Soyuz prelaunch and launch B-roll and post-launch interviews

Thursday, Oct. 25,
7 a.m. — Expedition 33/34 Soyuz docking coverage (docking at 7:35 a.m., followed by post-docking news conference from Mission Control in Korolev, Russia)
9:45 a.m. — Expedition 33/34 Soyuz hatch opening and welcoming ceremony (hatch opening at 10:15 a.m.)
Noon — Video File of Expedition 33/34 Soyuz docking, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA and the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station