NASA--Latest News-- Space Station expedition crew members will facilitate approximately 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth

NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscomos (Russian Federal Space Agency) will launch to the space station aboard a Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft March 18, 2016 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Credits: NASA

NASA will host a news conference for the next crew launching to the International Space Station, featuring NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA Television will broadcast the news conference live at 2 p.m. EST after airing b-roll video of crew training at 1:30 p.m. Both can be seen online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

This will be Williams’ third long-duration stay on the space station. Joining him for Expedition 47 and 48 will be cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos (Russian Federal Space Agency). Williams will be the commander of Expedition 48.


The trio will launch to the space station aboard a Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft March 18, 2016, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to join Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra of NASA, astronaut Timothy Peake of ESA (European Space Agency), and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos.

During their six-month mission, the expedition crew members will facilitate approximately 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth to advance scientific knowledge of Earth, space, physical, and biological sciences and benefit those on Earth. Science conducted also will enable future long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space and on the agency’s journey to Mars.

The crew members will share their mission experiences on Instagram at:

http://instagram.com/iss

Follow Williams on Twitter at:

https://twitter.com/astro_jeff

For more information about the International Space Station and its crews, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release
http://www.nasa.gov/station