Expedition Seven Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer
Ed Lu are en route to the International Space Station. They launched
from Baikonur Cosmodrome atop a Soyuz rocket at 10:54 p.m. CDT Friday
(0354 GMT Saturday). 

They will spend two days chasing the orbital outpost before docking,
which is slated for 12:56 a.m. CDT (0556 GMT) Monday. After arriving at
the station, Malenchenko and Lu will take part in nearly a week of
handover activities with the outpost's current residents - Expedition
Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin and NASA ISS
Science Officer Don Pettit.

On May 3, the Expedition Six crew will climb into the Soyuz TMA-1
spacecraft and return to Earth, ending a stay in space that began in
late November 2002. Malenchenko and Lu will spend six months on the ISS.

NASA TV will provide coverage of Expedition Seven's arrival at the
station beginning 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 will be seen live on NASA
TV.

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

Expedition Seven Mission Overview (136 Kb PDF)

Ask the ISS Crew Answers are available.

Read Flight Engineer Don Pettit's Space Chronicles.

Space Station Science Picture of the Day