Final preparations are underway at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the launch of the Soyuz MS-25 manned spacecraft. Less than 6 hours remain until the launch.
The rocket has already been installed at the Baikonur launch site, and the cosmonauts have given a small pre-launch press conference and are also preparing for launch.
The main crew of the international team with the call sign "Kazbek" includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, and spaceflight participant from the Republic of Belarus, Marina Vasilevskaya.
The backup crew includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, and spaceflight participant from the Republic of Belarus, Anastasia Lenkova.
The launch will be broadcast live on Roscosmos' official YouTube channel — here.
It will begin at 15:15 Moscow time, and the rocket launch itself is scheduled for 16:21 Moscow time.
The docking of the spacecraft to the Prichal module of the Russian segment of the ISS is scheduled to take place at 19:40 Moscow time.
Twelve days later, Novitsky and Vasilevskaya will return to Earth on the Soyuz MS-24 along with NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara.
Read more on the topic:
How Soyuz rockets with a manned spacecraft are transported to the launch site at Baikonur
Roscosmos showed how the Soyuz MS-25 rocket is assembled before launch
