NASA TV to Cover Space Station Crew's Voyage

NASA TV to Cover Space Station Crew’s Voyage

By Craig Taylor

December 3, 2009

NASA Television will air the events surrounding the launch and delivery of the next three new residents to the International Space Station. Coverage with a broadcast of prelaunch activities begins on Dec. 8 at 11 am CST and continues through the crew’s arrival to the orbiting laboratory on Dec. 22.

The Soyuz TMA-17 crew comprises Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, U.S. astronaut Timothy Creamer and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They will launch on Dec. 20 at 3:51 pm CST from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and are expected to remain at the space station for six months.

The TMA-17 will be the 104th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since 1967. Once it arrives at the space station, it will remain docked with the space station and will serve as an emergency escape vehicle.