ESA TV coverage of next Soyuz Mission to the ISS

On 7 April at 17:30 GMT, two Russian astronauts, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov are scheduled to launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan to begin a six-month stay on the ISS.

With them will be Charles Simonyi, an American flying as a “space tourist” who will return to Earth with the current ISS crew members on April 20.

Simonyi, a former Microsoft top executive, will be performing scientific programme whilst on the ISS, including experiments from ESA to study the response of the human body to the microgravity environment and to cast light on common conditions that cause pain and discomfort to millions of citizens throughout the world.

Expedition 15’s Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft is scheduled to dock at the station on 9 April a little after 19:00 GMT. The hatch between the capsule and the ISS will be opened shortly later, followed by a welcome ceremony in orbit.

ESA-TV will provides live coverage of these events, as a live rebroadcast of NASA-TV:

7 April 16:30-18:00 GMT LIVE: Expedition 15/Soyuz Launch Coverage including images of final launch preparations in Baikonur

9 April 18:45-19:15 GMT LIVE: Soyuz Docking with the ISS

9 April 20:25-21:00 GMT LIVE: Expedition 15 Crew Enters ISS, live statements

More background information can be found on: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

Satellite downlink details for all transmissions:

Eutelsat Atlantic Bird at 12.5 degrees West

Transponder F5, channel D horizontal,

F=12.652 MHz, SR=6.1113 Ms/sec, FEC=3/4

Please note that this transmission will not be available as broadcast quality files for ftp download.

For further information and a daily update of the transmission schedule, visit our website at http://television.esa.int. For all enquires, contact Claus Habfast, Tel +31 71 565 3838, Fax +31 71 565 6340, e-mail claus.habfast@esa.int.

With kind regards,

ESA TV Service