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Next Space Station Crew Launch Set For March 25

By  //  March 19, 2014

launch set for march 25 FROM RUSSIA

ABOVE  VIDEO: Expedition 39/40 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Steve Swanson and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and their backups, Alexander Samokutyaev of Roscosmos, Barry Wilmore of NASA and Elena Serova of Roscosmos, conducted final qualification training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia March 4 and 5. Skvortsov, Swanson and Artemyev are scheduled for a March 26 launch, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft to begin a six-month mission on the International Space Station.

Tune into SpaceCoastDaily.com for Livestream coverage for the next three crew members flying to the International Space Station, followed by extensive live coverage of their launch and docking to the orbital laboratory Tuesday, March 25.

Expedition 39 crew members take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Pictured on the front row are Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata (right), commander; and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson, flight engineer. Pictured from the left (back row) are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Tyurin and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, all flight engineers. (NASA.gov image)
Expedition 39 crew members take a break from training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Pictured on the front row are Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata (right), commander; and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson, flight engineer. Pictured from the left (back row) are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Tyurin and NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, all flight engineers. (NASA.gov image)

Expedition 39/40 Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will launch to the space station in a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:17 p.m. EDT.

Livestream coverage will begin at 4:15 p.m.

The crew will dock to the station’s Poisk module less than six hours later at 11:04 p.m. Livestream docking coverage will begin at 10:30 p.m.

LIVESTREAM DOCKING COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10:30 P.M. ON MARCH 26

Koichi Wakata
Koichi Wakata

When the hatches open, they will be greeted by Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the first Japanese astronaut to lead an expedition, and Flight Engineers Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos.

Coverage of the hatch opening begins on NASA TV at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 26.

Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will remain aboard the station until mid-September. Wakata, Mastracchio and Tyurin have been aboard the orbital outpost since November 2013 and will return to Earth May 14, leaving Swanson as the Expedition 40 Commander.