John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-073

CREW LIFTS OFF FROM KAZAKHSTAN TO JOIN CREWMATES ABOARD THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Russian cosmonauts
Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko safely launched to the
International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft on Friday.
Liftoff occurred at 12:04 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.

The three Soyuz crew members are scheduled to dock with their new home
at 1:26 a.m. Sunday. Aboard the orbiting laboratory they will join
Oleg Kotov, a Russian cosmonaut and station commander, T.J. Creamer,
a NASA astronaut and flight engineer, and Soichi Noguchi, a Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut and flight engineer. The
expanded Expedition 23 crew will continue science investigations and
support two space shuttle missions to the station.

Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi launched to the station on Dec. 21, 2009.
They are scheduled to return to Earth on June 2. Before their
departure, Kotov will hand over command of the station to Skvortsov
for Expedition 24. In June, NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon
Walker, and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin will join Skvortsov,
Caldwell Dyson and Kornienko in orbit to complete the Expedition 24
crew.

On April 4, coverage of the docking of Skvortsov, Caldwell Dyson and
Kornienko will begin on NASA Television at 1 a.m. NASA TV will return
at 3 a.m. for coverage of the hatches opening and the welcoming
ceremony between the two crews, which will take place at about 3:45
a.m. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information,
visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


To follow Twitter updates from Expedition 23 crew members Creamer and
Noguchi, visit:


http://twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts


For more information about the space station, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/station