SoylentNews

Three astronauts will launch to the International Space Station later "tonight". From Wired:

A Soyuz spacecraft will take off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:37 local time, or 12:37 am EDT on Wednesday. If you're curious to follow along, you can watch NASA TV's live broadcast of the launch above, starting at 11:45 pm EDT tonight.

It will be a crowded time on the ISS:

Three crew members are ready to head into space Wednesday morning bringing the crew complement on the International Space Station (ISS) to nine, something that hasn't been seen since 2013.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov along with Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency, and visitors Aidyn Aimbetov from Kazcosmos, the National Space Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:37 a.m. EDT. They are scheduled to dock two days later at 3:42 a.m. on Friday with the hatch opening 6:15 a.m.

The new crew will join the One-Year duo of NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko along with Russians Gennady Padalka, Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui along with NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren.

That will take the number of people on board the station to nine. Typically there is a crew of six.

Aimbetov and Mogensen are scheduled to return to Earth on Sept. 12 along with current commander Padalka. Scott Kelly will take over command of the space station on Sept. 5.

Live coverage at NASA TV.