NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Will Join Cosmonauts in Thanksgiving Day Rocket Launch From Baikonur Cosmodrome

Crew will spend approximately eight months aboard the space station

NASA astronaut Chris Williams will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft to the International Space Station on Thursday, November 27, accompanied by cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, where they will join the Expedition 73 crew advancing scientific research.

Williams, Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev will lift off at 4:27 a.m. EST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Live launch and docking coverage will be available on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the agency’s YouTube channel.

After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the orbital complex, the spacecraft will automatically dock to the station’s Rassvet module at approximately 7:38 a.m. Shortly after, hatches will open between Soyuz and the space station.

Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Jonny Kim of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and Oleg Platonov.

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Thursday, Nov. 27

• 3:30 a.m. – Launch coverage begins

• 4:27 a.m. – Launch

• 6:45 a.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

• 7:38 a.m. – Docking to the space station

• 9:50 a.m. – Hatch opening and welcome remarks coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and YouTube.

• 10:10 a.m. – Hatch opening

Williams, Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev will spend approximately eight months aboard the space station as Expedition 73/74 crew members, before returning to Earth in summer 2026.

This will be the first spaceflight for Williams and Mikaev, and the second for Kud-Sverchkov.

During his stay aboard the station, Williams will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth.

He will help install and test a new modular workout system for long-duration missions, support experiments to improve cryogenic fuel efficiency and grow semiconductor crystals in space, and assist NASA in designing new re-entry safety protocols to protect crews during future missions.

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making breakthroughs in research that are not possible on Earth.

The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit.

As commercial companies concentrate on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA is focusing its resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign in preparation for future human missions to Mars.

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