The next resident crew of the International Space Station and a millionaire space tourist are onboard a Russian Soyuz rocket as preparations for launch continue at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott remain scheduled to blast off from the central Asian spaceport at 3:01 a.m. EDT.
You can watch live NASA TV coverage of the launch here in The Flame Trench. Simply click the NASA TV box on the right side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer.
The crew of the 18th expedition to the station arrived at the Site 1 launch pad at Baikonur after being cleared for launch by a Russian State Commission. The astronauts and cosmonauts will be answering to the radio call sign "Titan" and they also are carrying along a small white polar bear toy that Lonchakov's children gave him as a good luck charm.
The weather for the launch looks good. A cold front passed through the area Saturday, leaving crisp blue skies with think white clouds.
The 16-story rocket is fully fueled, venting on the pad, a huge crowd of VIPS is on hand and no technical problems are being worked at this time.
IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge and save the Associated Press image of the Expedition 18 crew and space tourist Richard Garriott climbing stairs up to their Soyuz spacecraft at Site 1 at Baikonur Cosmdrome. From top to bottom are Richard Garriott, Michael Fincke and Yury Lonchakov.
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