Expedition Seven to Launch Tonight
The Expedition Seven crewmembers -- Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA
ISS Science Officer Ed Lu -- are set to begin their journey to the
International Space Station tonight. Final preparations are under way at
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, for the launch of their Soyuz rocket,
which is slated for 10:54 p.m. CDT (0354 GMT Saturday). After two days
in orbit, the Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the
international outpost at 12:56 a.m. CDT (0556 GMT) Monday. 

Aboard the station today, Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight
Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit
continued to prepare for Expedition Seven's arrival. They also climbed
into the Soyuz TMA-1 and conducted training for their upcoming
departure. Expedition Six will leave the station and return to Earth
aboard the Soyuz TMA-1 on May 3.

NASA TV's coverage of the Expedition Seven launch will begin at 10 p.m.
CDT today (0300 GMT Saturday), and the docking coverage gets under way
at 12 a.m. CDT (0500 GMT) Monday. Then on Tuesday, the three astronauts
and two cosmonauts will participate in a news conference at 10:25 a.m.
CDT (1525 GMT) that NASA TV will carry live.

Check out the full schedule for upcoming Expedition Six and Seven
coverage on NASA TV.