Astronauts ready to blast off to space station Thursday

TORONTO – Three astronauts are awaiting departure to the International Space Station.

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Two Russian cosmonauts — Soyuz commander Alexander Samokutyaev and flight engineer Elena Serova, along with American Barry Wilmore, are scheduled to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:25 p.m. EDT.

This comes just two days after SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked with the station.

After reaching low-Earth orbit, their capsule will have a six-hour, four-orbit ride around the planet before docking at the station.

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The three will be joining American astronaut Reid Wiseman, German astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev who have been at the ISS since May. They are scheduled to return to Earth in November.

You can watch the launch on NASA TV.

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