Three Expedition 49/50 crew members will head to the International Space Station on Friday, September 23. Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, KE5HOD, and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko will head into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will spend approximately 5 months aboard the orbital complex before returning to Earth in late February.

Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, and Borisenko will join Expedition 49 Commander Anatoly Ivanishin and his crewmates — Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, and Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS, who have been on station since July. Between launch and docking, the trio will spend 2 days in the Soyuz MS-02 testing system upgrades. NASA TV will provide live coverage of the launch and docking.