Space lovers have an opportunity to watch two unique occurrences at the International Space Station this week, but you will have to stay up pretty late — or wake up very early — to see them live.
According to NASA, the cargo spacecraft carrying three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the ISS is for the Expedition 71 crew.
The unpiloted spacecraft – called Progress 88 – is scheduled to launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday at 2:43 p.m. local time.
This means that anyone looking to watch the launch in California would have to be ready by 2:43 a.m. on Thursday due to the time change.
After a two-day orbit journey, the spacecraft will automatically dock to a space-facing port on the International Space Station’s orbiting laboratory’s Poisk module at 4:47 a.m. Pacific time.
The craft will remain at the station for almost six months before coming back to Earth loaded with trash that the astronauts disposed of, NASA says.
There are several ways to watch live launch and docking coverage, including on NASA Television, YouTube, the NASA app, NASA+ and the agency’s website.
Launch coverage will begin at 2:15 a.m. Thursday morning; coverage of the docking begins at 4 a.m. Saturday.
Expedition 71, which consists of a crew of seven astronauts (including Tracy C. Dyson, an Arcadia native who graduated from Cal State Fullerton), is exploring neuro-degenerative diseases and therapies, space botany, space-caused fluid shifts and algae-based life support systems, NASA said.
The mission began on April 5 and ends in September.