The Soyuz spacecraft and booster on the pad and being prepared for launch, March 28th. Image Credit: RSC Energia

Bound for the International Space Station, Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams are scheduled for liftoff this evening at 9:30 p.m. EST, departing the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew will launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft and dock with the Station this Friday at 11:19 p.m. EST.

Brazil’s first astronaut, Marcos Pontes, will accompany Vinogradov and Williams and remain onboard ISS for eight days before returning to Earth with the outgoing Expedition 12 crew (Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev).

In addition to welcoming the resumption of space shuttle flights to their home in orbit, the crewmembers are scheduled to resume three-person crew operations and assembly of the station.

Coverage via NASA TV begins tonight at 7:45 PM EST with a replay of the final pre-launch preparations recorded today, followed by live launch coverage starting at 8:45 PM EST.

Expedition 13 Photo Gallery

Added 8:55 PM CST:

Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA Science Officer Jeffrey Williams, the 13th International Space Station crew, launched aboard their Soyuz TMA spacecraft at 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday to begin a six-month stay in space.

Their Soyuz capsule reached orbit a little less than nine minutes after liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Russian flight controllers reported the spacecraft’s solar arrays had deployed as scheduled, and that all appeared normal.

Looks like everything’s gone just as planned. There’s a recap of the sequence of events at Spaceflight Now’s mission status center.

The Soyuz TMA-8 leaves the pad shrouded atop the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle. Image Credit: RSC Energia