NASA TV To Provide Coverage Of Next Soyuz Landing, Launch

Michael Curie

Headquarters, Washington

Kylie Clem
Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON -- The return to Earth of three International Space Station crew members and the prelaunch activities, launch and docking of the station’s newest trio of residents will be broadcast on NASA Television during the next several weeks.

After almost six months aboard the orbital laboratory, Expedition 24 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov, NASA Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko are scheduled to land their Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft in southern Kazakhstan on Sept. 23 (Sept. 24 in Kazakhstan).

Russian cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri, NASA Flight Engineer Scott Kelly and Russian Flight Engineer Oleg Skripochka will launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-01M on Oct. 7 (Oct. 8 in Kazakhstan) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will join NASA astronaut and Expedition 25 Commander Doug Wheelock, NASA Flight Engineer Shannon Walker and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, who have been aboard the station since June 18.

The coverage begins with a NASA TV Video File feed at 11 a.m. CDT Sept. 17. The footage will include the prelaunch news conference with Kelly, Kaleri and Skripochka at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and their ceremonial visit to lay flowers at the Kremlin Wall in Red Square in Moscow.

A change of command ceremony in which Skvortsov will hand over command of the station to Wheelock will be conducted at 4:05 p.m. Sept. 22. It will be replayed during NASA TV’s International Space Station Update at 10 a.m. Sept. 23 and during landing coverage that evening.

The full schedule of the landing, launch and docking coverage that will air on NASA TV's public and media channels is (all times are CDT):

Sept. 17, Friday

11 a.m. -- Video File feed of the Expedition 25 prelaunch news conference at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City and tour of Red Square in Moscow

Sept. 22, Wednesday

4:05 p.m. -- Expedition 24/25 change of command ceremony

Sept. 23, Thursday

4:45 p.m. -- Expedition 24 farewells and hatch closure (hatch closure scheduled at 5:20 p.m.)

8:15 p.m. -- Expedition 24 undocking coverage (undocking scheduled at 8:34 p.m.)

10:30 p.m. -- Expedition 24 deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn scheduled at 11:03 p.m., landing in Kazakhstan scheduled at 11:55 p.m.)

Sept. 24, Friday

1 p.m. -- Video File feed of Expedition 24 post-landing activities and interview with Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Sept. 27, Monday

11 a.m. -- Video File feed of Expedition 25 farewell activities at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City (recorded Sept. 25)

Oct. 4, Monday

11 a.m. -- Video File feed of Expedition 25 prelaunch activities and Soyuz TMA-01M rocket mating in Baikonur

Oct. 5, Tuesday

11 a.m. -- Video File feed of the Expedition 25 Soyuz TMA-01M rollout to the launch pad in Baikonur

Oct. 6, Wednesday

4 p.m. -- Video File feed of the Expedition 25 final prelaunch news conference and state commission meeting in Baikonur

Oct. 7, Thursday

4:30 p.m. -- Video feed of the Expedition 25 crew final prelaunch activities in Baikonur

5:15 p.m. -- Expedition 25 launch coverage (launch scheduled at 6:10 p.m., followed by launch replays)

9 p.m. -- Video File feed of the Expedition 25 prelaunch activities, launch and post-launch interviews

Oct. 9, Saturday

6:30 p.m. -- Expedition 25 docking coverage (docking scheduled at 7:01 p.m. followed by the post-docking news conference)

9:30 p.m. -- Expedition 25 hatch opening and welcoming ceremony (hatch opening scheduled at 10:01 p.m., followed by the welcoming ceremony)

Oct. 10, Sunday

12 a.m. -- Video File feed of the Expedition 25 docking, hatch opening and welcoming ceremony

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.