14 DAY TRIAL // This September 2, at 12:37 a.m. EDT, a Soyuz rocket carrying a crew of three astronauts is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Before you check the time, this means that, as of now, there are less than 10 hours to the launch.
The three astronauts, nestled inside a Soyuz spacecraft, will head out to the International Space Station once the rocket lifts them off the ground.
NASA expects the crew and the orbital complex will rendezvous on Friday, at 3:42 a.m. EDT on the dot.
With blastoff just hours away, the Soyuz rocket is already patiently waiting on the launch pad. Its crew, on the other hand, probably isn't quite as calm.
The three astronauts set to launch to the International Space Station this Wednesday are Sergei Volkov of Roscosmos, Andreas Mogensen of ESA, and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency.
“Veteran cosmonaut Sergei Volkov will command the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft that will launch Sept. 2 at 12:37 a.m. EDT,” NASA writes in an update.
“Joining him for the trip to the station will be first time flyers Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency and Aidyn Aimbetov from Kazcosmos, the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” it adds.
When they get to the orbital complex later this week, the crew will be welcomed by Gennady Padalka, Oleg Kononenko and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos, Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren of NASA, and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who are already aboard the station.
Update: The rocket and the spacecraft nestled atop it successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
