The first one-year crew for the International Space Station is set to launch Friday, March 27 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The launch is scheduled for 3:42 p.m. EDT (1:42 a.m. on Saturday in Baikonur).
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, who will both spend a year living and working on the space station, will launch with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, becoming part of the Expedition 43 crew.
The trio will ride to the ISS in a Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz will orbit the Earth four times before joining the space station and docking at the Poisk module at 9:36 p.m. EDT on Friday. Docking coverage will begin at 8:45 p.m. EDT.
Hatch opening will take place at about 11:15 p.m. EDT. Expedition 43 Commander Terry Virts of NASA and his crewmates, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency), will greet Kelly, Kornienko and Padalka. Hatch opening cermony coverage will start at 10:45 p.m. EDT.
Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream
From NASA's press release:
"Kelly and Kornienko will spend a year on the space station to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space. Data from the expedition will be used to determine whether there are ways to further reduce the risks on future long-duration missions to an asteroid and eventually Mars.
"The crew will support several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science -- research that impacts life on Earth. Data and samples will be collected throughout the year from a series of studies involving Scott and his twin brother, former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly. The studies will compare data from the genetically-identical Kelly brothers to identify any subtle changes caused by spaceflight.
"Padalka will spend six months aboard the outpost, during which he will become the first four-time station commander and record holder for most cumulative time spent in space."
