HOUSTON – NASA Television will air the launch of the next two residents of the International Space Station, a spaceflight participant and the return of two members of the current station crew. Coverage begins with a broadcast of prelaunch activities Sept. 17 and continues through the landing on Oct. 11.
Soyuz Commander Max Suraev, NASA Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:14 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Sept. 30. Laliberte, a Canadian citizen and founder of Cirque du Soleil, will fly to the station under an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
After a two-day trip, the Soyuz will dock to the station at 3:36 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 2. Aboard the orbiting laboratory, Williams and Suraev will be greeted by Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA’s Mike Barratt and Nicole Stott, the European Space Agency’s Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and the Canadian Space Agency’s Bob Thirsk. After Padalka and Barratt depart the station, De Winne will become commander of the next station mission, designated Expedition 21.
Padalka, Barratt and Laliberte will return to Earth at approximately 11:29 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, in the Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft docked to the station. Padalka and Barratt have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since March 2009.
Upcoming NASA TV Soyuz launch and landing programming events (all times CDT):
Sept. 17
11 a.m. – Expedition 21 and spaceflight participant video file of departure in Star City, Russia, for Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Sept. 28
11 a.m. – Video file of crew activities in Baikonur, Soyuz rocket mating and rollout
Sept. 29
11 a.m. – Prelaunch news conference, Russian State Commission video file feed from Baikonur
Sept. 30
12:45 a.m. – Prelaunch activities and arrival at launch pad video file from Baikonur
1:30 a.m. – Launch coverage and replays from Baikonur (Launch scheduled at 2:14 a.m.)
5 a.m. – Prelaunch activities, launch and post launch interviews from Baikonur
Oct. 2
3 a.m. – Coverage of Soyuz docking to station (docking scheduled at 3:36 a.m., post-docking news conference follows)
6:15 a.m. – Hatch opening, welcoming ceremony (hatch opening scheduled at 6:40 a.m.)
9 a.m. – Video file of the docking to the station, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony
Oct. 6
9:10 a.m. – Joint crew news conference of Expedition 20, 21 and spaceflight participant
Oct. 10
4:30 p.m. – Expedition 21, 20, spaceflight participant farewells and Soyuz TMA-14 hatch closure (scheduled at 5 p.m.)
7:45 p.m. – Coverage of Expedition 20 and spaceflight participant undocking from station (scheduled at 8:05 p.m.)
10:15 p.m. – Deorbit burn (scheduled for 10:36 p.m.) and landing coverage (scheduled for 11:29 p.m.) in Kazakhstan
Oct. 11
4 a.m. – Landing video file
12 p.m. – Barratt post-landing interview, return to Star City and Kazakhstan welcoming ceremony video file
For NASA Television streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:
For more about the space station, visit:
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John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov
Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov