[NASA] NASA Sets Coverage for Crew Launch to Join Station Expedition

[SpaceMan 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

A Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 73 crew members aboard, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

NASA/Joel Kowsky

NASA astronaut Chris Williams will launch aboard the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft to the International Space Station on Thursday, Nov. 27, accompanied by cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, where they will join the Expedition 73 crew advancing scientific research.

Williams, Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev will lift off at 4:27 a.m. EST (2:27 p.m. Baikonur time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Live launch and docking coverage will be available on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and the agency’s

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

channel. Learn how to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

through a variety of platforms, including social media.

After a two-orbit, three-hour trip to the orbital complex, the spacecraft will automatically dock to the station’s Rassvet module at approximately 7:38 a.m. Shortly after, hatches will open between Soyuz and the space station.

Once aboard, the trio will join NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and Jonny Kim, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and Oleg Platonov.

NASA’s coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Thursday, Nov. 27

3:30 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

4:27 a.m. – Launch

6:45 a.m. – Rendezvous and docking coverage begins on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

7:38 a.m. – Docking to the space station

9:50 a.m. – Hatch opening and welcome remarks coverage begins on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

10:10 a.m. – Hatch opening

Williams, Kud-Sverchkov, and Mikaev will spend approximately eight months aboard the space station as Expedition 73/74 crew members, before returning to Earth in summer 2026. This will be the first spaceflight for Williams and Mikaev, and the second for Kud-Sverchkov.

During his stay aboard station, Williams will conduct scientific research and technology demonstrations aimed at advancing human space exploration and benefiting life on Earth. He will help install and test a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

for long-duration missions, support experiments to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in space, and assist NASA in designing new

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

to protect crews during future missions.

For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies concentrate on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, NASA is focusing its resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis campaign in preparation for future human missions to Mars.

Learn more about International Space Station research and operations at:

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

-end-

Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
*****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski 
Johnson Space Center, Houston 
281-483-5111 
sandra.p*****@*****.tld / *****@*****.tld 

Share

Details

Last Updated

Nov 20, 2025

Location

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Related Terms

• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up
• This is the hidden content, please

  • Sign In
  • or
  • Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up