Year in Space Launch Flawless, Docking With ISS Tonight

By  //  March 27, 2015

will dock with the space station at 9:36 p.m

Three crew members representing the United States and Russia are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:42 p.m. EDT Friday. (NASA image)
Three crew members representing the United States and Russia are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:42 p.m. EDT Friday. (NASA image)

BAIKONUR COSOMODROME, KAZAKHSTAN — Three crew members representing the United States and Russia are on their way to the International Space Station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:42 p.m. EDT Friday.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will spend about a year living and working aboard the space station to help scientists better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh environment of space.

Launching with Kelly and Kornienko was cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who will spend a standard six-month rotation on the station.

The trio is scheduled to dock with the station at 9:36 p.m., about six hours after launch.

Charles Bolden
Charles Bolden

“Scott Kelly’s mission is critical to advancing the administration’s plan to send humans on a journey to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. 

“We’ll gain new, detailed insights on the ways long-duration spaceflight affects the human body.”

SpaceCoastDaily.com will stream NASA Television coverage of the docking, which will beginFriday at 8:45 p.m.

Hatches are scheduled to open at about 11:15 p.m., with coverage starting at 10:45 p.m.