The two-man crew of the International Space Station will receive three new crew mates in a few days as a Russian Space Agency Soyuz rocket prepares for launch on Sunday.
American Jeffery Williams and Russian Maxim Suraev have been alone 222 miles above earth aboard the station for the last few weeks, and they are looking forward to the Soyuz's arrival on Tuesday.
American astronaut T.J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will begin a six month voyage upon the vast ocean of space as members of both the station's Expedition 22 and 23 crews.
The Soyuz FG rocket (above, on Dec. 18) with the Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft will lift-off on Sunday at 4:52 pm EST, (2152 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
After a two day orbital chase to catch up with the space station, the TMA 17 will slowly move in and dock with the PIERS segment at 5:54 pmEST (22:54 GMT) on Tuesday.
Included with the international crew of three will be fresh supplies such as food, water, experiments, and small hardware in support of station operations.
Between now and February, the orbital outpost will see a lot of activity as the Soyuz docks; an unmanned Russian Progress 36P cargo ship docks on Feb. 5; and the space shuttle Endeavour arrives on Feb. 9 with the massive Tranquility module and the Cupola section.
SpaceLaunchNews.com will carry the launch LIVE beginning at 4PM EST (2100 GMT) on Sunday. Follow us via Twitter via @spacelaunchnews.
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