26.11.2025
NASA astronaut to launch for ISS on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. How to watch
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station on Thanksgiving.
An American astronaut is due to spend his Thanksgiving Day traveling with two Russians to the International Space Station.
Chris Williams of NASA is one of three spacefarers who will launch aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan. For eight months after, Williams and his cosmonaut crewmates will live and work at the iconic orbital laboratory, which recently marked 25 years with a continuous human presence.
They'll also replace three others, including NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, who have already spent about seven months at the space station.
Want to watch astronaut Chris Williams' venture to the ISS? NASA will provide coverage from launch to arrival that you can watch – if you're up overnight.
Here's everything to know about the Soyuz MS-28 mission, and NASA's livestream coverage.
What is the International Space Station?
The International Space Station has been stationed in low-Earth orbit for more than 25 years, typically about 260 miles high, where it has been home to astronauts from all over the world. Throughout its lifespan, the station has served as a test bed for scientific research in microgravity and has in years past opened itself up to private commercial missions.
The orbital laboratory is operated through a global partnership of space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
More than 280 spacefarers from 26 countries have visited the International Space Station, including 170 from the United States alone, according to NASA.
About 356 feet long, the station is bigger than a six-bedroom house and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree view bay window. The space station also has enough docks for up to eight spacecraft to be docked at one time.
NASA astronaut to launch with Russians for ISS
NASA astronaut Chris Williams is due to embark overnight Thursday, Nov. 27, the 2025 Thanksgiving holiday, to the International Space Station with two Russians aboard a Roscosmos capsule, known as Soyuz MS-28. Liftoff is targeted for 4:27 a.m. ET (2:27 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a spaceport Russia's space agency Roscosmos operates within Kazakhstan.
The mission will mark the first spaceflight for Williams and his Russian crewmate Sergey Mikaev, and the second for crew member Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
Selected as a candidate in 2021, Williams graduated with the 23rd astronaut class in 2024 and immediately began training for his first space station flight assignment. Born in New York City, Williams considers Potomac, Maryland, his hometown.
Williams and his crew are due to spend approximately eight months aboard the space station performing scientific research and helping to maintain the station before returning to Earth in summer 2026. The three spacefarers are replacing a three-member crew that includes NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, who reached the ISS in April with cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky on a Soyuz MS-27 capsule.
How to watch NASA coverage of Soyuz launch
NASA will provide live coverage of the mission online available on a variety of platforms.
Coverage will be available on the agency's streaming app, NASA+ – also available on YouTube and the agency’s X account – as well as Amazon Prime. Netflix, which provides some live NASA coverage, including rocket launches, is not promoting the event on its platform.
NASA's coverage – beginning at 3:30 a.m. ET Thursday, Nov. 27 – will begin with the launch itself and continue through most of the morning as the Soyuz capsule docks and the hatches between the spacecraft and the station open. Coverage will conclude following a brief welcome ceremony when the astronauts enter the space station.
Space station marks 25-year milestone in November
The next crewed arrival to the International Space Station comes in the same month that the orbital laboratory reached a significant quarter-century milestone.
Though the first module for the ISS was launched in 1998, it wasn't occupied until two years later. Since the Nov. 2, 2000, arrival of the Expedition 1 crew, the orbital laboratory has had humans on board for 25 years.
How many astronauts are on the ISS now?
Seven people are living aboard the International Space Station as of the end of November as part of Expedition 73.
In addition to the three astronauts who will soon depart, that includes four astronauts who are part of a joint NASA and SpaceX mission known as Crew-11. Among them are NASA astronaut Zena Cardman; NASA astronaut Mike Fincke; Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); and Russian Oleg Platonov, a Roscosmos cosmonaut.
Crew-11 launched Aug. 1 from the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the spacefarers made their venture to space aboard a Dragon capsule that was propelled into orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
When the Soyuz spacecraft docks at the outpost, 10 people will briefly be at the station during a handover period as the new arrivals are familiarized with their new home and station operations. The Soyuz MS-27 crew are due to depart at the beginning of December, according to NASA.
Quelle: Florida Today