WASHINGTON – The launch of the next crew of the International Space Station, Expedition 16, and the landing of the current crew, Expedition 15, are among events to be broadcast on NASA Television from Sept. 27 to Oct. 21.
NASA’s Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor are set to launch Oct. 10 at 9:21 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Their Soyuz TMA-11 craft is planned to dock to the station on Oct. 12. Shukor will fly to the station under an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
NASA Flight Engineer Clay Anderson, who has been on the station since June, will remain with Whitson and Malenchenko until the arrival of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-120 mission. NASA astronaut Dan Tani will arrive on that mission to replace Anderson, who will journey home on Discovery.
Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and Shukor will return to Earth Oct. 21 at 6:32 a.m. in their Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft now docked to the station. Yurchikhin and Kotov have been aboard the station since April.
On Oct. 4, NASA TV will broadcast highlights of NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and others attending events in Moscow to commemorate the 200th anniversary of U.S-Russian diplomatic relations and the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1.
The events and planned broadcasts include (all times approximate, EDT):
Sept. 27:
12 p.m. – Video file of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant departure ceremony as they travel from Russia to Baikonur to prepare for launch.
3 p.m. – Live coverage of the Expedition 15 Soyuz relocation (undocking is scheduled at 3:18 p.m., redocking is scheduled at 3:43 p.m.).
Oct. 3:
12 p.m. – Video file of the arrival of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant in Baikonur, and the Soyuz spacecraft fit check.
Oct. 4:
12 p.m. – Video file of Sputnik 50th anniversary events in Moscow and prelaunch activities of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant crew in Baikonur.
Oct. 5:
12 p.m. – Video file of prelaunch activities in Baikonur of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant.
Oct. 9:
12 p.m. – Video file of Soyuz rollout for Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant, crew news conference and final prelaunch activities in Baikonur.
Oct. 10:
7:30 a.m. – B-roll feed from Baikonur of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant launch day preparations.
8:30 a.m. – Live coverage begins of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant launch from Baikonur (launch is scheduled at 9:21 a.m.).
12 p.m. – Postlaunch video file of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant.
Oct. 12:
10 a.m. – Live coverage begins of Soyuz docking to the station with the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant, and the post-docking news conference from Moscow (docking is scheduled at 10:47 a.m.).
12 p.m. – Live coverage begins from Moscow of the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant hatch opening to enter the station (hatch opening is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.).
1:30 p.m. – Video file of the docking and hatch opening for the Expedition 16 crew and spaceflight participant.
Oct. 20-21:
11:45 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. – Live coverage of the Expedition 15 crew and spaceflight participant farewell and Soyuz hatch closure (hatch closure is scheduled at 12:15 a.m. Oct. 21).
Oct. 21:
2:45 a.m. – Live coverage begins of the Soyuz undocking with the Expedition 15 crew and spaceflight participant (undocking is scheduled at 3:15 a.m.).
5:15 a.m. – Live coverage begins of the Soyuz deorbit burn and landing of the Expedition 15 crew and spaceflight participant in Kazakhstan (deorbit burn is scheduled at 5:42 a.m.; landing is scheduled at 6:32 a.m.).
10 a.m. – Video file of the Soyuz farewell, undocking and landing in Kazakhstan of the Expedition 15 crew and spaceflight participant.
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:
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