Hooks and latches have engaged, firmly anchoring Progress M-14M to its docking port at the International Space Station where the freighter will remain parked through April 24.

Hatches between the two vehicles will be opened later tonight.

The docking occurred as the space station flew over the northeastern coast of Brazil at an altitude of 240 miles.

Over the next few minutes, the Progress docking probe will retract to allow hooks and latches to bring the spacecraft to a firm seal with the station.

DOCKING. The Progress M-14M spacecraft has docked to the Pirs module of the International Space Station, delivering a fresh load of provisions, spare parts and rocket fuel for orbiting laboratory complex.

About 16 feet to go.

The freighter is carrying 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the orbiting outpost, including 2,050 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 2,778 pounds of spare parts, maintenance items and experiment hardware.

Range now 55 feet.

A steady, stable approach using Progress vehicle's automated rendezvous system continues.

Now inside 98 feet and closing at 0.31 miles per hour.

The KURS antenna on Progress has retracted as planned.

Passing through 150 feet.

Now 197 feet, closing at 0.58 miles per hour.

Just 350 feet to docking.

Now 492 feet to docking, closing at 1.9 mph.

The final approach to docking is underway a couple minutes ahead of schedule.

The Russian flight control team has given approval for the final approach to commence.

This stationkeeping hold point is occurring 640 feet between Progress and the Pirs port.

Progress has completed the flyaround to align with the docking port. It's now in the stationkeeping hold while controllers verify all is in readiness for final approach.

The vessel is completing a roll maneuver as part of the sequence to prepare for docking.

Range is 885 feet as the Progress continues this automated rendezvous in smooth fashion.

Now about 1,000 feet left to go, closing at 1.8 miles per hour.

The freighter is flying itself around the international outpost to get into the approach corridor leading to the Pirs compartment's docking port.

Now 1,640 feet separating the two spacecraft as they fly 250 miles over the South Pacific.

Progress M-14M is 1.5 miles from the station, closing at 12 miles per hour.

The Progress spacecraft is nearing the International Space Station for docking a little more than a half-hour from now at 7:08 p.m. EST. You can watch live NASA Television coverage right here on this page.

A Russian Soyuz booster successfully launched Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and propelled a resupply freighter on its two-day pursuit to rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Read our launch story.

The official launch time was clocked by Mission Control as 6:06:40 p.m. EST, the precise moment when the Earth's rotation brought the Baikonur pad into alignment with the International Space Station's orbital plane.

The craft is completing a programmed sequence to deploy the power-generating solar arrays, as well as antennas for navigational and communication systems.

T+plus 9 minutes. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION! The Progress M-14M cargo ship is flying free after the upper stage finished its engine firing and then separated away. The spacecraft is headed for a Friday docking with the International Space Station around 7:08 p.m. EST.

T+plus 8 minutes. About a minute remains in the propulsion by the upper stage. The motor consumes kerosene and liquid oxygen just like the Soyuz rocket's other powerplants.

T+plus 7 minutes. The four-nozzle engine of the upper stage continues to burn normally to inject the spacecraft into orbit.

T+plus 6 minutes. Soyuz's upper stage is firing to propel the spacecraft into a stable orbital perch around Earth.

T+plus 5 minutes. The core stage of the Soyuz rocket has shut down and separated, leaving the upper stage to complete the job of injecting the Progress M-14M freighter into orbit.

T+plus 4 minutes. The core motor continues to fire on its propellant mixture of kerosene fuel and supercold liquid oxygen. Everything still going well in the climb to orbit.

T+plus 3 minutes. The launch shroud has been jettisoned from the atop the Soyuz rocket to uncover the Progress M-14M freighter.

T+plus 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The four strap-on boosters clustered around the Soyuz rocket's main stage have burned out and separated. The core motor continues to fire.

T+plus 90 seconds. All looking good on the vehicle parameters.

T+plus 60 seconds. Good performance one minute into this ascent for the Soyuz rocket with the unmanned cargo ship.

T+plus 30 seconds. The rocket is heading on course for a rendezvous with the space station 49 hours from now. The station currently is flying about 245 miles above Chad in center of Africa.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Russian Progress resupply freighter in pursuit of the International Space Station!

T-minus 25 seconds. The first umbilical arm has separated from Soyuz. The second will retract in the next few seconds.

T-minus 1 minute and counting. Now running on internal power.

T-minus 2 minutes and counting. Rocket propellant tank pressurization is underway. The vehicle's onboard measurement system is activated. Oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves of the launch vehicle have been closed.

T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The nitrogen purge of the combustion chambers of side and central engine pods of the rocket is being performed in preparation for ignition.

T-minus 4 minutes. The launch key has been inserted in the bunker for liftoff.

T-minus 5 minutes and counting. The precise liftoff time is 6:06:40 p.m. EST to send the Soyuz booster on the proper orbital trajectory with the International Space Station.

T-minus 6 minutes. The automatic program for final launch operations is being initiated.

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. Flight data recorders have been activated and the vehicle's gyroscopes are in flight-ready status.

T-minus 10 minutes and counting. This Progress M-14M spacecraft will dock to the International Space Station on Friday and remain parked there through April 24. The Pirs compartment of the space station will be used by Progress vehicles throughout the year.

T-minus 15 minutes and counting. Liftoff will be originating from the same historic launch pad where the first man in space -- Yuri Gagarin -- was launched in 1961.

T-minus 20 minutes and counting to the predawn launch from Baikonur. Liftoff is set to occur at 5:06 a.m. local time.

T-minus 38 minutes. Retraction of the two-piece service structure that has enclosed the Soyuz rocket during its stay at the launch pad is occurring as the towers rotate to a horizontal position. Several other umbilical arms connecting the rocket to the ground will be retracted at various times later in the countdown.

T-minus 1 hour. The Soyuz rocket is fueled and the countdown is progressing toward liftoff of the International Space Station's first resupply mission of the year from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:06 p.m. EST.

If you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates sent to your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

The Russian State Commission met to review readiness of the Soyuz rocket for today's launch and granted official approval to proceed with fueling the booster with kerosene and liquid oxygen.

"At a meeting of the Baikonur launch site of the State Commission, which reviewed the results of tests on the launch of space rocket complex Soyuz-U" designed for launching into orbit cargo vehicle Progress M-14M. After hearing the reports of the supervisors, the State Commission has decided (the rocket is) ready for filling with propellant components and launch," the Russian Space Agency said in a statement.

So we're now into the final hours of the count towards today's launch at 6:06 p.m. EST.

Watch this page for live updates and streaming video of the blastoff!

The Russian Soyuz rocket topped by the next resupply freighter this morning rolled to the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad and took aim toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Wednesday's liftoff is scheduled for 6:06 p.m. EST (2306 GMT) to propel the Progress 46P cargo vessel on its two-day pursuit of the orbiting complex. Docking to the space station is expected Friday around 7:08 p.m. EST (0008 GMT).

The freighter is carrying 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the orbiting outpost, including 2,050 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 2,778 pounds of spare parts, maintenance items and experiment hardware.

See a photo collection showing the booster traveling aboard its railcar from the final assembly building to the pad, then being hydraulically erected to stand vertically.

Welcome aboard! The newest residents have floated into the International Space Station from their Soyuz capsule for the formal ceremony. Also participating via a live communications linkup are the VIPs gathered on the balcony in Russia's mission control center outside Moscow.

The hatchway between the Soyuz spacecraft and the station was opened at 12:43 p.m. EST.

The outpost's Expedition 30 crew is comprised of three Russians and two Americans and a European astronaut. The outpost is back to the full 6-person-strong resident.

The hooks and latches have engaged, forming a hard mate between the capsule and space station where Soyuz will remain affixed until May 16.

The docking probe on the front of Soyuz has retracted, allowing the hooks and latches to close and form a seal between the capsule and station. Pressure and leak checks will be performed over the next orbit before the hatchway is opened for the crew to enter into the station at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT).

The docking occurred as the space station flew over southern Russia at an altitude of 250 miles, about three minutes ahead of schedule because stationkeeping was abbreviated due to the good alignment of the capsule.

Over the next few minutes, the Soyuz docking probe will retract to allow hooks and latches to bring the spacecraft to a firm seal with the station. Hatches between the two vehicles will be opened around 1 p.m. EST.

DOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft has docked to the Rassvet module of the space station, delivering NASA's Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers to the international outpost.

The new Expedition 30 residents join commander Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin.

About 10 feet to go.

A steady, stable approach using Soyuz's automated rendezvous system continues.

Now inside 60 feet and closing.

Closing at 0.3 miles per hour.

The docking mechanism has been powered up. About 82 feet left to go.

Now 147 feet, closing at 0.38 miles per hour.

Range down to 171 feet.

Now 266 feet, closing at 0.62 miles per hour.

The Soyuz and station are nearing an orbital sunset. The headlight on Soyuz has been turned on for this expected nighttime docking.

Now 324 feet, closing at 1.28 miles per hour.

Now 465 feet to docking, closing at 1.9 mph.

The final approach to docking is underway a couple minutes ahead of schedule.

The Russian flight control team has given approval for the final approach to commence.

The Soyuz completed the flyaround to align with the docking port. It's now in the stationkeeping hold about 675 feet away while controllers verify all is in readiness for final approach.

The capsule is completing a roll maneuver as part of the sequence to prepare for docking.

Now 784 feet, closing at 0.9 miles per hour.

Now 932 feet, closing at 1.3 miles per hour.

Soyuz is flying itself around the international outpost to get into the approach corridor leading to the Rassvet module's docking port.

Now 1,300 feet, closing at 2.4 miles per hour.

Now 1,700 feet, closing at 3.7 miles per hour.

The capsule is within 2,100 feet of the outpost now, the closure rate down to 4 miles per hour.

Now 2,300 feet, closing at 5.3 miles per hour.

Now 3,000 feet, closing at 6.7 miles per hour.

Now 3,700 feet, closing at 7.3 miles per hour.

Closure rate has decreased below 11 miles per hour.

About 6,200 feet now separate the capsule and space station.

Range now 8,200 feet, closing at 16.8 miles per hour.

The Soyuz is 2.7 miles from the station, closing at 23.9 miles per hour.

The Soyuz spacecraft is nearing the space station for docking a little more than a half-hour from now at 10:22 a.m. EST. You can watch live NASA Television coverage right here on this page.

The Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new residents for the International Space Station continues on course in its pursuit of the orbiting complex for docking Friday at 10:22 a.m. EST (1522 GMT).

The automated rendezvous sequence aboard the Russian-built crew transport capsule will begin about 8:02 a.m. EST to control the activities via autopilot.

The day's first key engine firing is planned for 8:24 a.m. and another impulse is expected around 8:44 a.m. EST, followed within minutes by activation of the Kurs rendezvous equipment on both the Soyuz and space station to guide the linkup. Another burn comes up at 9:11 a.m.

The two spacecraft should be within 60 miles of each other by 9:07 a.m., closing to less than 10 miles by 9:34 a.m.

The television camera on the nose of Soyuz will be turned on at 9:40 a.m. to provide views of the docking.

A series of maneuvers between 9:50 and 9:58 a.m. will dramatically slow the Soyuz's closure rate, ultimately leading to the spacecraft beginning a flyaround of the space station at 10 a.m. to align with the Rassvet module's docking port.

After a stationkeeping hold by the Soyuz to ensure all is in readiness for docking, the spacecraft will commence final approach at 10:12 a.m. for docking about 10 minutes later. Soyuz commander Oleg Kononenko will be standing by to take over manual flying of the spacecraft if required.

The linkup should occur at 10:22 a.m. EST, a few minutes after orbital sunset.

The hatch opening and welcoming ceremony aboard the station is expected around 1 p.m. EST.

Watch this page for live updates and streaming video starting at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT).

And take a look back at Wednesday's countdown and launch in our 4-page photo gallery!

If you missed the launch, we've archived highlights of the countdown and blastoff for our Spaceflight Now+Plus subscribers in both standard and high definition video:

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FULL EXPERIENCE FROM LIFTOFF TO ORBIT PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: FOUR LAUNCH PAD CAMERA REPLAYS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS SITE 254 FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: FAMILIES CHAT WITH CREW BEFORE LAUNCH PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CREW MEMBERS DON THEIR SOKOL SPACESUITS PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH DAY TRADITIONS AT CREW QUARTERS PLAY | HI-DEF
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Following a flawless climb to orbit with no issues or problems reported, the crew has been given clearance to open helmet visors and loosen the seat belts.

The official launch time was clocked by Mission Control as 8:16:15 a.m. EST, the precise moment when the Earth's rotation brought the Baikonur pad into alignment with the International Space Station's orbital plane.

NASA's Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers have arrived in orbit following launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Activities upcoming over the next few hours include opening the hatchway into the capsule's living compartment where the crew can remove their spacesuits, pressurization of the Soyuz propellant tanks and two orbit adjustment maneuvers. The trio of crewmates should begin their sleep period around 4 p.m. EST.

That pair of maneuvers later today will be followed by another one Thursday to put Soyuz on the proper trajectory for Friday's rendezvous and docking with the space station.

The craft is completing a programmed sequence to deploy the power-generating solar arrays, as well as antennas for navigational and communication systems.

T+plus 9 minutes. CAPSULE SEPARATION! The Soyuz spacecraft is flying free after the upper stage finished its engine firing and then separated away. The capsule is in pursuit of the International Space Station for a planned docking around 10:22 a.m. EST on Friday.

T+plus 8 minutes, 40 seconds. Control paramaters still remain in good shape.

T+plus 8 minutes. About a minute remains in the propulsion by the upper stage. The motor consumes kerosene and liquid oxygen just like the Soyuz rocket's other powerplants.

T+plus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Pitch, yaw and roll are reported nominal.

T+plus 7 minutes. The four-nozzle engine of the upper stage continues to burn to inject the spacecraft into orbit.

T+plus 6 minutes. Soyuz's upper stage is firing to propel the spacecraft into a stable orbital perch around Earth.

T+plus 5 minutes. The core stage of the Soyuz rocket has shut down and separated, leaving the upper stage to complete the job of injecting the Soyuz capsule into orbit.

T+plus 4 minutes. The core motor continues to fire on its propellant mixture of kerosene fuel and supercold liquid oxygen.

T+plus 3 minutes, 45 seconds. "Everything is normal," the crew reports as the Soyuz rockets toward space.

T+plus 3 minutes. The safety escape tower and launch shroud have been jettisoned from the atop the Soyuz capsule.

T+plus 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The four strap-on boosters clustered around the Soyuz rocket's main stage have burned out and separated. The core motor continues to fire.

T+plus 60 seconds. Good performance one minute into this ascent for the Soyuz rocket and its three-person crew from the Kazakh launch base. Flight engineer Andre Kuipers is strapped into the left-hand seat, Oleg Kononenko is in the center seat for his role as the Soyuz commander and NASA astronaut Don Pettit is riding in the right-hand seat.

T+plus 30 seconds. The Soyuz is heading on course for a rendezvous with the space station 50 hours from now. The station currently is flying about 250 miles above the South Pacific.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Soyuz rocket launching crewmembers for the International Space Station's 30th expedition.

T-minus 25 seconds. The first umbilical arm has separated from Soyuz. The second will retract in the next few seconds.

T-minus 1 minute and counting. The Soyuz has been placed on internal power.

T-minus 2 minutes and counting. Rocket propellant tank pressurization is underway. The vehicle's onboard measurement system is activated. Oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves of the launch vehicle have been closed.

T-minus 3 minutes and counting. The nitrogen purge of the combustion chambers of side and central engine pods of the rocket is being performed in preparation for ignition.

T-minus 4 minutes. The launch key has been inserted in the bunker for liftoff.

T-minus 5 minutes and counting. Soyuz has switched to onboard control, the ground measurement system and the capsule commander's controls are being activated.

T-minus 6 minutes. The automatic program for final launch operations is being initiated.

T-minus 9 minutes and counting. The crew has closed its helmet visors.

T-minus 10 minutes. The crew inside the Soyuz capsule are starting recorders to collect data during launch.

T-minus 14 minutes and counting. The Soyuz telemetry systems are being activated. They will relay real-time data back to Earth during today's launch.

T-minus 17 minutes. Now in the launch count, realignment of the Soyuz rocket's trajectory control system and checks of internal batteries should be complete. The Soyuz telemetry system will soon be activated and monitoring of Soyuz's thermal control system also will begin.

T-minus 20 minutes and counting. The three-stage Soyuz rocket will insert the 15,700-pound space capsule into a 143 by 118 mile orbit, inclined 51.6 degrees to the equator, according to NASA.

T-minus 24 minutes. The crew is completing leak checks of the Sokol launch spacesuits at this point in the countdown.

T-minus 30 minutes and counting. The emergency escape system is being armed. The system would be employed if a major malfunction occurs, propelling the Soyuz capsule off the top of the rocket to safety.

The sun has set at the launch site as the countdown continues on schedule toward a liftoff at 7:16 p.m. local time.

T-minus 44 minutes. Retraction of the two-piece service structure that has enclosed the Soyuz rocket during its stay at the launch pad is occurring as the towers rotate to a horizontal position. Several other umbilical arms connecting the rocket to the ground will be retracted at various times later in the countdown.

Don Pettit, 56, previously lived aboard the station for 161 days as the Expedition 6 science officer 8 years ago and flew 16 days on shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission that remodeled the outpost's interior with the life-support equipment needed for larger resident crews. The Oregon native is married with two children and has a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona.

Read his full bio.

Oleg Kononenko, 47, also worked aboard the International Space Station during the 199-day Expedition 17 mission in 2008. The Russian cosmonaut is a mechanical engineer who will oversee piloting tasks for the Soyuz spacecraft during the upcoming launch and landing phases of the mission. He is married with two children.

Read his full bio.

Andre Kuipers, 53, is a European Space Agency astronaut headed back to the International Space Station after flying a brief 11-day mission in 2004 that replaced Soyuz capsules parked at the complex. The doctor was as an officer of the Royal Netherlands Air Force Medical Corps. before eventually becoming an astronaut. Born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, he is married with four children.

Read his full bio.

T-minus 60 minutes and counting. NASA's Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers were awakened about eight hours ago to begin launch day activities. They signed the doors at crew quarters and received religious blessings before boarding a bus that took the three crewmates the 25-mile distance into the cosmodrome. They donned their white Sokol launch and entry suits, met with officials from their respective space agencies and then headed for the pad. Crowds of well-wishers gathered to wave goodbye as the crew reached the rocket. An elevator took the trio up to the capsule-level of the tower to begin climbing aboard the cramped spacecraft.

If you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates sent to your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

Video highlights of the Soyuz crew's launch day activities are beginning to air in the streaming video.

T-minus 2 hours. The Soyuz rocket is fueled, the crew has traveled to the launch pad and the countdown is progressing toward liftoff of the space station's Expedition 30 crew from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 8:16 a.m. EST.

In temperatures hovering around 0 degrees F, the crew has arrived the Baikonur launch pad to begin boarding the capsule and taking their assigned seats for blastoff about two-and-a-half hours from now.

The Russian State Commission met to review readiness of the Soyuz rocket for launch and granted official approval to proceed with fueling the booster.

"After hearing the reports of the supervisors, the State Commission has decided (the rocket is) ready for filling with propellant components and launch. In accordance with the schedule of prelaunch specialists of Russian Space Agency began operations on (rocket) fueling the "Soyuz-FG" propellants," the agency said in a statement.

So we're now underway into the final five hours of the count towards today's launch at 8:16 a.m. EST.

Engineers are readying a Soyuz spacecraft for launch Wednesday to ferry three fresh crew members to the International Space Station, boosting the lab's staff back to six after delays caused by the August failure of an unmanned Progress supply ship.

Read our full story.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: EXPEDITION 30-31 MISSION PREVIEW PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: PETTIT, KONONENKO, KUIPERS BIOGRAPHIES PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: CREW TOURS BAIKONUR COSMODROME PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: PRESS DAY TO SEE THE CREW UP-CLOSE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CHECKING OUT THE SOYUZ TMA-03M CAPSULE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: CEREMONIAL ARRIVAL AT THE LAUNCH SITE PLAY | HI-DEF
SUBSCRIBE NOW

As spectators likened the conditions to the infamous Ice Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys of 1967 with temperatures of -15 degrees F, the Russian Soyuz rocket was rolled to its launch pad at dawn today in preparation for blastoff Wednesday to the International Space Station.

See the rollout photo gallery.

"Today, 44 years later in weather very reminiscent of that day, it is 15 degrees below zero Fahrenheit here at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft has now reached the pad," NASA spokesman Rob Navias reported. "That's the scene here."

Wednesday's liftoff of the three-man crew from the U.S., Russia and Europe is scheduled for 8:16 a.m. EST (1316 GMT) from the same pad used to send the first human into space.

NASA's Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers are headed to the orbiting outpost for a 147-day mission as part of the Expeditions 30 and 31.

They'll join the trio already living up there -- commander Dan Burbank of NASA and cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin.

The Soyuz booster rocket and its crew transport capsule, mounted horizontally on a railcar, the launcher journeyed along a winding route from the integration facility at Site 254 to the same historic pad used since the beginning of the space age.

Hydraulic pistons lifted the rocket upright on the pad and gantry swing arms moved into position to enclose the vehicle. Technicians on four levels hooked up electrical and telemetry cables between the rocket and pad.

The operations went forward as scheduled despite the bitterly cold weather.

"I think all of us out here are reminded just how robust this system is...and everything rolls on exactly as per the plan. The rocket is in great shape, the crew is in great shape, everything is clicking along. I think we're feeling very good about this transportation system," said Mike Barratt, NASA's deputy chief astronaut.

Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: FINAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SOYUZ PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: SOYUZ ROCKET ROLLED TO LAUNCH PAD PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: SPOKESMAN'S REPORT FROM LAUNCH SITE PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: LAUNCH VEHICLE IS HOISTED VERTICALLY PLAY | HI-DEF
VIDEO: POST-ROLLOUT COMMENTS FROM OFFICIALS PLAY | HI-DEF

VIDEO: CREW'S DEPARTURE FROM TRAINING BASE PLAY | HI-DEF
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Following liftoff of the three-stage, liquid-fueled booster, the capsule will be inserted into a preliminary orbit within nine minutes. But it will take two days for the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft to the reach station. Docking is scheduled for Friday around 10:20 a.m. EST (1520 GMT).

Here is an overview the key events in the Soyuz's launch countdown, as provided by NASA:

• T- 6:00:00 Batteries are installed in the booster
  
  
• T- 5:30:00 State commission gives "go" to take launch vehicle
  
  
• T- 5:15:00 Crew arrives at site 254
  
  
• T- 5:00:00 Tanking begins
  
  
• T- 4:20:00 Spacesuit donning
  
  
• T- 4:00:00 Booster is loaded with liquid oxygen
  
  
• T- 3:40:00 Crew meets delegations
  
  
• T- 3:10:00 Reports to the State commission
  
  
• T- 3:05:00 Transfer to the launch pad
  
  
• T- 3:00:00 Vehicle first and second stage oxidizer fueling complete
  
  
• T- 2:35:00 Crew arrives at launch vehicle
  
  
• T- 2:30:00 Crew ingress through orbital module side hatch
  
  
• T- 2:00:00 Crew in re-entry vehicle
  
  
• T- 1:45:00 Re-entry vehicle hardware tested; suits are ventilated
  
  
• T- 1:30:00 Launch command monitoring and supply unit prepared;
  -- Orbital compartment hatch tested for sealing
  
  
• T- 1:00:00 Launch vehicle control system prepared for use; gyro instruments activated
  
  
• T- :45:00 Launch pad service structure halves are lowered
  
  
• T- :40:00 Re-entry vehicle hardware testing complete; leak checks performed on suits
  
  
• T- :30:00 Emergency escape system armed; launch command supply unit activated
  
  
• T- :25:00 Service towers withdrawn
  
  
• T- :15:00 Suit leak tests complete; crew engages personal escape hardware auto mode
  
  
• T- :10:00 Launch gyro instruments uncaged; crew activates on-board recorders
  
  
• T- 7:00 All prelaunch operations are complete
  
  
• T- 6:15 Key to launch command given at the launch site;
  -- Automatic program of final launch operations is activated
  
  
• T- 6:00 All launch complex and vehicle systems ready for launch
  
  
• T- 5:00 Onboard systems switched to onboard control;
  -- Ground measurement system activated by RUN 1 command;
  -- Commander's controls activated;
  -- Crew switches to suit air by closing helmets;
  -- Launch key inserted in launch bunker
  
  
• T- 3:15 Combustion chambers of side and central engine pods purged with nitrogen
  
  
• T- 2:30 Booster propellant tank pressurization starts;
  -- Onboard measurement system activated by RUN 2 command;
  -- Prelaunch pressurization of all tanks with nitrogen begins
  
  
• T- 2:15 Oxidizer and fuel drain and safety valves of launch vehicle are closed;
  -- Ground filling of oxidizer and nitrogen to the launch vehicle is terminated
  
  
• T- 1:00 Vehicle on internal power;
  -- Automatic sequencer on;
  -- First umbilical tower separates from booster
  
  
• T- :40 Ground power supply umbilical to third stage is disconnected
  
  
• T- :20 Launch command given at the launch position;
  -- Central and side pod engines are turned on
  
  
• T- :15 Second umbilical tower separates from booster
  
  
• T- :10 Engine turbopumps at flight speed
  
  
• T- :05 First stage engines at maximum thrust
  
  
• T- :00 Fueling tower separates;
  -- Lift off

Watch this page for live updates and a video webcast during the final countdown and launch.

And if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates sent to your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)