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NASA to send three astronauts to International Space Station Monday [video]

Three space travelers, including two astronauts on their first flight, are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on Monday, Dec. 3 for a six-and-a-half month mission. Live coverage will air on NASA Television, the agency’s website and in the stream below.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in KazakhstanAnne McClain of NASA, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency, and Oleg Kononenko of Roscosmos are preparing to launch aboard the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft Dec. 3 at 6:31 a.m. EST (5:31 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Following a six-hour journey making four orbits of Earth, the crew will dock the Soyuz to the station’s Poisk module at 12:35 p.m. to begin their mission on the orbital laboratory. It will be the first flight for both McClain and Saint-Jacques and the fourth for Kononenko.

Less than two hours after docking, hatches between the Soyuz and the station will open, and the current crew, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), NASA Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos Flight Engineer Sergey Prokopyev, who have been in orbit since June, will greet them.

The crew members will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, humanity’s only permanently occupied microgravity laboratory.

Kononenko, McClain and Saint-Jacques will officially become the Expedition 58 crew when Gerst, Aunon-Chancellor and Prokopyev depart the station for home Dec. 20.

Coverage of the Expedition crew’s launch and docking activities are as follow (all times EST):

Monday, Dec. 3

  • 5:30 a.m. – Soyuz MS-11 launch coverage (launch at 6:31 a.m.)
  • 11:45 a.m. – Docking coverage (docking scheduled for 12:35 p.m.)
  • 1:45 p.m. – Hatch opening (expected at about 2:35 p.m.) and welcome coverage

Full Schedule of NASA TV Ahead of the Launch

NOVEMBER

November 29, Thursday
2 p.m. – NASA Administrator to Announce New Moon to Mars Partnerships with U.S. Companies (All Channels)

DECEMBER

December 1, Saturday
12 p.m. – Video File of the International Space Station Expedition 58/Soyuz MS-11 Rollout to the Launch Pad, including interviews at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and other crew activities via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (Media Channel)

December 2, Sunday
3 p.m. – Replay of the Russian State Commission Meeting and Final Space Station Expedition 58 Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)

December 3, Monday
5:30 a.m. – International Space Station Expedition 58/Soyuz MS-11 Launch Coverage, includes video B-roll of the crew’s launch day pre-launch activities at 5:45 a.m. ET; launch scheduled at 6:31 a.m. ET via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)
9:30 a.m. – SpaceX CRS-16 What’s On Board – Kennedy Space Center (Public Channel)
9:30 a.m. – Video File of International Space Station Expedition 58/Soyuz MS-11 Pre-Launch and Launch Video and Post-Launch Interviews via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (Media Channel)
11:15 a.m. – OSIRIS-REx’s Journey to Asteroid Bennu (All Channels)
11:45 a.m. – LIVE Coverage: OSIRIS-REx Arrival at Bennu (Public Channel)
11:45 a.m. – Coverage of the Expedition 58/Soyuz MS-11 Docking to the International Space Station; docking scheduled at 12:36 p.m. (Media Channel)
1:45 p.m. – International Space Station Expedition 58/Soyuz MS-11 Hatch Opening and Welcoming Ceremony; hatch opening scheduled at approximately 2:35 p.m. ET (time is subject to change) via Baikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)
3:30 p.m. – SpaceX CRS-16 Pre-launch News Conference – Kennedy Space Center (All Channels)
5 p.m. – Video File of International Space Station Expedition 57-58/Soyuz MS-10 Docking, Hatch Opening and Other Activities (Media Channel)

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Duncan Idaho

Duncan is a science and technology reporter for CDN and serves as the lead geek correspondent. Follow him if you like rockets, mobile tech, video games or ... just about anything nerdy.

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