Soyuz Capsule
The three new members of the International Space Station will board the Soyuz Capsule and launch into space on May 28. NASA

The newest crew members of the International Space Station will board the Soyuz Space Capsule and fly into space on Tuesday. Viewers from around the world can watch on NASA’s live stream as Karen Nyberg, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Luca Parmitano launch into space.

NASA astronaut Nyberg is a 44-year-old mother of one who was born in Vining, Minn.; Yurchikhin, the Soyuz commander, comes from the Russian Federal Space Agency; and Italian astronaut Parmitano will serve as flight engineer. The launch will take place Tuesday at 4:31 p.m. at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members will board the Soyuz capsule and launch into orbit, to later dock at the Earth-facing Rassvet module, also known as the Docking Cargo Module, reports NASA.

ISS Crew Members
Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, Flight Engineers; Karen Nyberg of NASA, left, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. NASA

Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano are expected to dock the Soyuz capsule at 10:17 p.m. and be officially onboard the ISS at 11:55 p.m. The three new crew members will be met on arrival by Pavel Vinogradov, Expedition 36 commander; Alexander Mirsurkin, flight engineer from the Russian Federal Space Agency; and Chris Cassidy, from NASA. Vinogradov, Mirsurkin and Cassidy have been aboard the ISS since March and will leave in mid-September, while Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano will be aboard the space station until mid-November, reports NASA.

The three new ISS crew members will serve as part of Expedition 36, with Yurchikhin as commander. The ISS is enjoying newfound celebrity thanks to the social media efforts of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Commander of Expedition 35. Hadfield made headlines and racked up YouTube hits when he had a conversation with former "Star Trek" actor William Shatner, shared photos of Earth from space, and created videos depicting life aboard the ISS. As a parting gift, Hadfield shared a video of his performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

Nyberg has a tough act to follow, but she's an active presence on Twitter and has been sharing photos prior to the launch. The NASA astronaut previously spent 13 days in space and will be tweeting throughout her time aboard the ISS.

Here's NASA’s live-stream coverage schedule. (The video can be viewed below.):

  • 3:30 p.m.: Pre-launch activities leading up to the Soyuz capsule launch at 4:31 p.m.
  • 9:30 p.m.: Docking coverage as the Soyuz capsule reaches the International Space Station
  • 11:30 p.m.: Hatch opening coverage as the latest crew members are welcomed aboard the ISS

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