HOUSTON — NASA Television will air the Thanksgiving Day return to Earth of three crew members from the International Space Station and the preparation, launch and docking of the newest trio of station residents three weeks later.
Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock and NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker are scheduled to land in the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft on the northern steppe of Kazakhstan on Nov. 25 (Nov. 26 local time).
On Dec. 15, Soyuz Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft (Dec. 16 Baikonur time). They will join NASA Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly and Russian Flight Engineers Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, who have been aboard the station since early October.
Wheelock will hand over command of the station to Kelly at 3 p.m. CST on Nov. 24. Kelly will be the first astronaut to have commanded both a space shuttle mission and the station.
NASA TV will air a video file on Nov. 26 that will include a prelaunch news conference by Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and their tour of Red Square in Moscow.
The scheduled landing, launch and docking coverage and events include (all times CST):
Thursday, November 25
3:30 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-19 farewells and hatch closure (hatch closure at 3:50 p.m.)
7 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-19 undocking (undocking at 7:22 p.m.)
9:30 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-19 deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn at 9:54 p.m., landing at 10:46 p.m.)
Friday, November 26
11 a.m. — Video file of Soyuz TMA-19 landing in Kazakhstan, post-landing activities and interviews with NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker
Noon — Video file of Soyuz TMA-20 crew news conference at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia, and tour of Red Square in Moscow, Russia
Friday, December 3
11 a.m. — Video file of the Soyuz TMA-20 crew departure ceremonies at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia
Friday, December 10
11 a.m. — Video file of the Soyuz TMA-20 crew activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Monday, December 13
11 a.m. — Video file of the Soyuz TMA-20 crew activities in Baikonur,
Kazakhstan, and Soyuz TMA-20 vehicle mating and rollout to the launch pad
Tuesday, December 14
4 p.m. — Video file of the Soyuz TMA-20 State Commission and final pre-launch news conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Wednesday, December 15
11:30 a.m. — Soyuz TMA-20 crew pre-launch activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan
12:15 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-20 launch (launch at 1:09 p.m.)
3 p.m. – Video file of Soyuz TMA-20 pre-launch activities and launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan Friday, December 17
1:30 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-20 docking to ISS (docking at 2:09 p.m., followed by post-docking news conference)
4:30 p.m. — Soyuz TMA-20 hatch opening and welcoming ceremony (hatch opening at approximately 5 p.m.)
6:30 p.m. — Video file of Soyuz TMA-20 docking, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station