Final countdown to the Eneide Mission
The State Commission at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, declared the Soyuz TMA-6 crew, including Italian ESA astronaut Roberto Vittori, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and NASA astronaut John L. Phillips, fit for flight this morning. The launch of the Eneide Mission is set for 02:46 CEST (00:46 UT) on Friday.
After sandstorms in the Kazakh Steppe yesterday, the weather forecast of low winds and good visibility is highly favourable for launch day.
The launch can be followed live via satellite on the ESA Television Service (see http://television.esa.int for details) – the Italian TV channel RAI News 24 will also transmit the ESA TV coverage. NASA TV will be showing the launch live via Internet.
For more information about the mission, including daily updates, please consult the Eneide Mission website http://www.esa.int/eneide