A robotic Russian cargo ship will launch toward the International Space Station on Wednesday (May 24), and you can watch the flight live.
The Progress 84 cargo ship is scheduled to lift off on a Soyuz rocket at 8:56 a.m. EDT (1256 GMT) Wednesday from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
You can watch it live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or Directly via the Space Agency. Coverage will begin at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).
Related: How Russia’s Progress Spacecraft Work (Infographic)
The cargo ship’s trip to the International Space Station will last less than 3.5 hours: Progress 84 docked with the orbiting lab’s Poisk module at 12:20 p.m. EDT (1620 GMT) on Wednesday.
You can watch the off-Earth encounter here on Space.com and via NASA TV. Talking coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT).
Progress 84 is loaded with 5,492 pounds (2,491 kilograms) of food, water, propellant, astronaut clothing, and other supplies. According to EverydayAstronaut.com.
„The cargo ship is also carrying a variety of scientific instruments, including a launch vehicle with a nanosatellite for the Baras-MGTU experiment (run by NE Bauman Moscow State Technical University). Astronauts will launch it to test the technology for positioning the sun. Sail,” wrote EverydayAstronaut.com.
The Munnetra vehicle, which began flying in 1978, is one of three robotic spacecraft currently delivering cargo to the ISS. Two other private American vehicles – SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Nordob Grumman’s Cygnus craft.
Progress and Cygnus are expendable, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere after their time in orbit. The Dragon, however, is reusable, rebounding in smooth, parachute-assisted sea splashdowns.