Space Trio Set for Thanksgiving Launch to ISS

A group of space explorers is preparing for a special Thanksgiving journey. They will head to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday morning. NASA astronaut Chris Williams and cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev are the crew members for this mission. They will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:27 a. m. ET. The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft will carry them into space. The launch and docking process will be available to watch live on NASA+ and YouTube. The trip to the ISS will take around three hours and two orbits. The spacecraft is expected to dock with the station at approximately 7:38 a. m. ET. After docking, the hatch will open, and the trio will join the current crew. The current crew includes NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Jonny Kim. Also on board are JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and Oleg Platonov. They have been working and living on the ISS. Williams and his teammates will spend about eight months on the ISS. This will be part of ISS Expeditions 73 and 74. For Williams and Mikaev, this mission marks their first spaceflight. Kud-Sverchkov, however, is on his second mission. During his time on the ISS, Williams will conduct various scientific experiments. He will test a new modular workout system for long-duration missions. Other tasks include improving cryogenic fuel efficiency and growing semiconductor crystals in space. Williams will also help develop new re-entry safety protocols for future missions. This mission highlights the ongoing collaboration between NASA and Roscosmos. It shows how international teams work together in space exploration. The experiments conducted will contribute to future space missions and technologies.