The launch of the next International Space Station crew, Expedition 14, and the landing of the current crew, Expedition 13, are among events that will be broadcast live on NASA Television Sept. 17-29.
Astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA station science officer, and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition 14 flight engineer and Soyuz commander, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 18 (10:09 a.m. Baikonur time). They, along with Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari, a U.S. businesswoman who will visit the station for nine days under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, will launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and Ansari will land in north central Kazakhstan at 9:10 p.m. EDT Sept. 28 (7:10 a.m. Sept. 29 local Kazakhstan time) aboard the Soyuz spacecraft that is currently docked to the station. Vinogradov and Williams have been on the orbiting laboratory since April.
Video highlights of Expedition 14 pre-launch activities in Russia and Kazakhstan will air on the NASA TV Video File Sept. 16-17.
NASA TV coverage of Soyuz pre-launch, launch and docking Sept. 17-20 will be interspersed with the around-the-clock live broadcast of Space Shuttle Atlantis’ STS-115 mission coverage. For the latest on broadcast coverage of Soyuz events, check the continuously updated STS-115 mission NASA TV schedule at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html
The events and planned broadcast times include (all Eastern times):
Sunday, Sept. 17:
- 10:30 p.m. — Video B-roll replay of Soyuz crew pre-launch activities
- 11:30 p.m. — Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant NASA TV launch coverage begins
Monday, Sept. 18:
- 12:09 a.m. — Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant launch
- 2:30 a.m. — Video File B-roll replay of Expedition 14/Spaceflight participant Soyuz crew pre-launch activities, launch and post-launch interviews
Wednesday, Sept. 20:
- 12 a.m. — Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant station docking coverage begins (docking is at 1:24 a.m.; post-docking news conference is at 1:45 a.m.)
- 4:10 a.m. — Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant hatch opening and welcome ceremony coverage begins (hatch opening is at 4:20 a.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 21:
- A Crew News Conference with all six crew members on the station will be conducted with a multi-center question and answer capability for media at participating NASA centers. The time will be 12:15 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 28:
- 2:15 p.m. — Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant farewell and hatch closure coverage begins (hatch closure is at 2:45 p.m.)
- 5:15 p.m. — Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant undocking coverage begins (undocking is at 5:54 p.m.)
- 8 p.m. — Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn is at 8:20 p.m.; landing is at 9:10 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 29:
- 5:30 a.m. — Video B-roll of recovery activities at the remote landing site in north central Kazakhstan for the Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant crew
- 10 a.m. — Video B-roll of the crew’s return to Star City, Russia
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
