Three new astronauts will start a trip up to the International Space Station today — and it all begins with a ride on the Soyuz spacecraft. Watch it launch live right here at 11:36AM AEST.
An earlier launch of the Soyuz to the ISS (Image: NASA)
The astronauts — NASA’s Kate Rubins, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi and Roscomos’ Anatoly Ivanishin — will be making the trip as part of Expedition 49. They will be joining Expedition 48’s three-person crew already aboard the ISS.
But it’s not just astronauts making the trip. There’s some new gear, including a genetic sequencer, in the cargo hold. Rubins will be using the device to conduct the first ever in-space DNA sequence, which NASA hopes will answer questions about the impact of spaceflight on the human body.
NASA will start coverage at 10:30AM AEST today, and the launch will take place at 11:36AM You can watch along with us here, and see the whole timeline that the Soyuz will follow (assuming all goes to plan) below.
10:36AM AEST Launch vehicle control system prep; gyros active
10:40AM NASA TV: Crew pre-launch activities
10:51AM Pad service structure components lowered
10:52AM Clamshell-like gantry service towers retracted
10:59AM Suit leak checks; re-entry vehicle testing complete
11:02AM Emergency escape system armed
11:21AM Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
11:26AM Gyros “uncaged” and recorders activated
11:29AM Pre-launch operations complete
11:30AM Final launch countdown operations to auto
Launch complex/vehicle systems ready
11:31AM Commander’s controls active/helmets closed
Launch key inserted
11:32AM Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
11:33AM Booster propellant tank pressurisation (drainback)
11:35AM Ground propellant feed terminated
11:35:41AM Vehicle to internal power
11:36:06AM Auto sequence start
First umbilical tower separates
11:36:11AM 3rd stage ground power umbilical separates
11:36:26AM Second umbilical tower separates
11:36:29AM Launch command issued
Central/side pod engines start
11:36:31AM Engine turbopumps at flight speed
11:36:36AM. Engines at maximum thrust
11:36:41AM LAUNCH
11:45:26AM Orbital insertion