Coverage Set for Next International Space Station Crew Launch

HOUSTON — NASA Television will provide extensive coverage of prelaunch, launch and docking activities of the next trio of crew members who will fly to the International Space Station.

NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz TMA-05M launch begins at 8:30 p.m. CDT, Saturday, July 14. NASA Flight Engineer Sunita Williams, veteran Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineer Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch to the station at 9:40 p.m. (8:40 a.m., July 15 Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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The trio will arrive at the station late Monday, July 16, joining NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and two Russian cosmonauts, Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, who have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since mid-May. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide, who also will be part of the Expedition 33 crew starting in September, will return to Earth in mid-November.

The full schedule of the Soyuz prelaunch, launch and docking coverage on NASA TV public and media channels includes (all times are Central):

Tuesday, July 10
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 crew activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Wednesday, July 11
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 crew activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan and Soyuz TMA-05M mating operations

Thursday, July 12
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M rollout to the launch pad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Friday, July 13
1 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 Russian State Commission meeting and final prelaunch crew news conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

Saturday, July 14
8:30 p.m. — Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M launch coverage begins (launch at 9:40 p.m.); includes video B-roll of crew prelaunch activities and launch replays from Baikonur, Kazakhstan
11:30 p.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M pre-launch and launch video B-roll and post-launch Interviews

Monday, July 16
11:15 p.m. — Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M docking coverage begins (docking at 11:52 p.m. followed by post-docking news conference from Mission Control in Korolev, Russia)

Tuesday, July 17
2 a.m. — Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M hatch opening and welcoming ceremony coverage begins (ceremony scheduled at 2:25 a.m.)
4 a.m. — Video File of Expedition 32/33 Soyuz TMA-05M docking, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony

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MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-127