Soyuz U Progress 49 P Cargo Spacecraft Readied Baikonur In Kazakhstan

The ISS Progress 49P resupply ship, loaded with 2.5 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the crew aboard the station, is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:41 a.m. EDT (1:41 p.m. Kazakhstan time). NASA TV COVERAGE OF THE LAUNCH BEGINS AT 3:15 A.M., WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31, 2012. A few hours later, NASA TV coverage will resume at 9 a.m. EDT for the docking of the Progress to the space station's Zvezda Service Module at 9:40 a.m.

The unmanned Progress resupply capsule set to launch on Halloween will arrive at the orbiting outpost the same day - a "TRICK" only attempted to the ISS one time before. Usually, the cargo and other visiting vehicles take two to three days to get to the station. That opens the chance of a Halloween day "TREAT" delivery, notes SPACE.COM'S ROBERT Z. PEARLMAN. Meanwhile, at the Baikonur launch site, preparations continue for the launch of ISS Soyuz-U, Progress 49P (PROGRESS M-17M) cargo vehicle under the International Space Station. The Soyuz-U launch vehicle was rolled out from the integration building to the launch pad for launch October 29, 2012. Video of the rollout is above.