Launch Scheduled For March 27 Aboard A Soyuz Spacecraft

NASA will hold two briefings Thursday, Jan. 15 at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, to preview the upcoming Expedition 43 mission aboard the International Space Station and the launch of the crew embarking on a yearlong mission.

An International Space Station Program and Science Overview briefing will cover mission priorities and objectives, which include hundreds of research experiments, numerous spacewalks and international and commercial cargo deliveries to the complex.

The briefing participants are:

• Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager
• Emily Nelson, International Space Station expedition flight director
• Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist
• Steve Gilmore, lead flight surgeon for Scott Kelly

The trio is set to launch to the space station aboard the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft March 27. Padalka will return to Earth in September while Kelly and Kornienko will remain onboard until March 2016.

Kelly and Kornienko are embarking on a first-ever yearlong mission to the station. The valuable scientific data collected will provide insight into how the human body responds to longer durations in space, supporting the next generation of space exploration.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.nasa.gov/station