NASA TV Covers Station Crew Launch Live Saturday on Apollo 50th

The Expedition 60 and Apollo 11 crews
The Expedition 60 crew (left) is launching 50 years to the day Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first stepped foot on the Moon.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, teams are making final preparations for the launch of NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos to the International Space Station. Their journey to the station will begin with a lift off at 12:28 p.m. EDT Saturday (9:28 p.m. in Baikonur), 50 years to the day that astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the Moon in a giant leap for humanity.

Live launch coverage will begin Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The three will join NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Christina Koch and Expedition 60 Commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos.

The Expedition 60 crew will spend more than six months conducting about 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. Work on the unique microgravity laboratory advances scientific knowledge and demonstrates new technologies, making research breakthroughs that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars.

Some of the investigations they will conduct are sponsored by the U.S. National Laboratory on the space station, which Congress designated in 2005 to maximize its use for improving quality of life on Earth. Highlights of upcoming investigations the crew will facilitate on the orbiting laboratory in the unique microgravity environment include the growth of moss aboard the station, a platform to attempt successful printing of biological tissues and bio-mining in space.

Below is the crew’s launch timeline in EDT:

Saturday, July 20

3:28:21am      9:00      Crew wakeup at Cosmonaut Hotel
6:28:21am      6:00      Crew departs Cosmonaut Hotel
6:43:21am      5:45      Batteries installed in booster
7:13:21am      5:15      Crew arrives at Site 254
7:28:21am      5:00      Tanking begins
7:58:21am      4:30      Crew suit up
8:23:21am      4:05      Booster loaded with liquid Oxygen
8:58:21am      3:30      Crew meets family members on other side of the glass
9:23:21am      3:05      First and second stage oxygen fueling complete
9:28:21am      3:00      Crew walkout from 254 and boards bus for launch pad
9:33:21am      2:55      Crew departs for launch pad (Site 1)
9:53:21am      2:35      Crew arrives at launch pad (Site 1)
10:03:21am      2:25      Crew boards Soyuz; strapped in to the Descent module
10:53:21am      1:35      Descent module hardware tested
11:08:21am      1:20      Hatch closed; leak checks begin
11:28:21am      1:00      Launch vehicle control system prep; gyro activation
11:30:00am      :58:21      NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE BEGINS
11:43:21am      :45:00      Pad service structure components lowered
11:44:21am      :44:00      Clamshell gantry service towers retracted
11:45:00am      :43:21      NASA TV: Crew prelaunch activities B-roll played
11:51:21am      :37:00      Suit leak checks begin; descent module testing complete
11:54:21am      :34:00      Emergency escape system armed
12:13:21pm      :15:00      Suit leak checks complete; escape system to auto
12:18:21pm      :10:00      Gyros in flight readiness and recorders activated
12:21:21pm      :07:00      Pre-launch operations complete
12:22:21pm      :06:00      Launch countdown operations to auto; vehicle ready
12:23:21pm      :05:00      Commander’s controls activated
12:23:53pm      :04:28      ISS flies directly over the Baikonur Cosmodrome
12:24:21pm      :04:00      Combustion chamber nitrogen purge
12:25:21pm      :03:00      Propellant drainback
12:25:38pm      :02:43      Booster propellant tank pressurization
12:26:51pm      :01:30      Ground propellant feed terminated
12:27:21pm      :01:00      Vehicle to internal power
12:27:46pm      :00:35      First umbilical tower separates

Auto sequence start

12:27:51pm      :00:30      Ground umbilical to third stage disconnected
12:28:06pm      :00:15      Second umbilical tower separates
12:28:09pm      :00:12      Launch command issued

Engine Start Sequence Begins

12:28:11pm      :00:10      Engine turbo pumps at flight speed
12:28:16pm      :00:05      Engines at maximum thrust
12:28:21pm      :00:00      LAUNCH OF SOYUZ MS-13 TO THE ISS
12:37:06pm       +8:45      3RD STAGE SHUTDOWN; SOYUZ ORBITAL INSERTION

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit: https://blogs-stage-old.nasawestprime.com/spacestation/. Get space station news, images and features via social media on Instagram at: @iss, ISS on Facebook, and on Twitter @Space_Station and @ISS_Research.

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