Expedition 19 Crew Arrives At Cosmodrome

The Expedition 19 crew flew to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today and are taking part in final preparations for launch Thursday on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt and space tourist Charles Simonyi are scheduled to blast off on a Soyuz rocket at 7:49 a.m. EDT Thursday. That's the day after shuttle Discovery and its crew are scheduled to depart the orbiting outpost.

We'll have live coverage of the launch here in The Flame Trench beginning at 7 a.m. EDT Thursday.

The crew is scheduled to arrive at the space station at 9:15 a.m. Saturday, or about four-and-a-half hours before Discovery and its crew are scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center.

We'll also have live coverage of both the Soyuz docking and the shuttle landing beginning at 8:45 a.m. Saturday. The hatch opening and welcome ceremony for the Expedition 19 crew at the station will be broadcast live beginning at 11:45 a.m. And we'll have live coverage of the scheduled 1:42 p.m. Discovery landing at KSC.

ABOUT THE IMAGES: Click to enlarge the NASA TV screen grabs of the Expedition 19 crew after their arrival at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The top images shows (left to right) space tourist Charles Simonyi, commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineer Michael Barrett. The second image shows (left to right) Barratt, Padalka and Simonyi on the steps of a Soyuz trainer.