HOUSTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Television will cover the landing of two current International Space Station crew members and the launch of three upcoming station residents later in March and April. Coverage begins with a broadcast of crew farewells and hatch closure aboard the station March 17, and continues with the arrival, docking and hatch opening of the new Expedition 23 crew members on April 4.

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Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Soyuz Commander Max Suraev are scheduled to land in the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft March 18 in Kazakhstan, completing almost a half-year aboard the station.

Expedition 23 and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov, and Flight Engineers Mikhail Kornienko of Russia and Tracy Caldwell Dyson of NASA will launch April 2 on the Soyuz TMA-18 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will dock to the station April 4, joining Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who have been in orbit aboard the orbiting laboratory since December 2009.

Upcoming NASA TV broadcasts of these events and surrounding activities include (all times CDT):

March 17

7:45 a.m. - Expedition 22/23 change of command ceremony

11:30 p.m. - Expedition 22 farewells and hatch closure, scheduled for 12:02 a.m. March 18

March 18

2:45 a.m. - Coverage of Expedition 22 undocking from station, scheduled for 3:03 a.m.

5:15 a.m. - Coverage begins of the deorbit burn, scheduled for 5:34 a.m., and landing, scheduled for 6:24 a.m. in Kazakhstan

7 p.m. - Video file of landing and post-landing activities, including a post-landing interview with Williams

March 22

11 a.m. - Expedition 23 video file of departure in Star City, Russia, for Baikonur, Kazakhstan

March 31

11 a.m. - Video file of crew activities in Baikonur, including Soyuz rocket mating and rollout

April 1

11 a.m. - Video file feed from Baikonur of the prelaunch news conference and Russian State Commission meeting

9:30 p.m. - Video file from Baikonur of prelaunch activities and arrival at launch pad

10:15 p.m. - Coverage of launch from Baikonur, scheduled for 11:04 p.m., and replays

April 2

1:30 a.m. - Prelaunch activities, launch and post launch interviews from Baikonur

April 4

12 a.m. - Coverage of Soyuz docking to station, scheduled at 12:28 a.m., and post-docking news conference from Korolev, Russia

3 a.m. - Hatch opening, scheduled at 3:30 a.m., and welcoming ceremony

5:30 a.m. - Video file of the docking to the station and hatch opening

For NASA Television streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the space station and its crew members, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA

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