Russia’s Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft with the International Space Station’s (ISS) Expedition 33/34 is planned to launch from the Baikonur space center on Tuesday afternoon. 

      “The launch of the carrier rocket Soyuz-FG with the piloted spacecraft Soyuz TMA-06M is set for October 23 at 14:51 Moscow time [10:51 GMT],” Russian space agency Roscosmos reports. 

      The ISS Expedition 33/34 comprises two Russian cosmonauts - Commander Oleg Novitsky and Flight Engineer Yevgeny Tarelkin; as well as NASA astronaut - Flight Engineer Kevin Ford. Both Novitsky and Tarelkin will be in space for the first time, while Ford already has space experience, flying on an American shuttle in 2009.

      They will join the current crew consisting of NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and Japan’s Akihiko Hoshide.