Soyuz rocket rolled out, ready to launch

July 27 (UPI) -- The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft has been rolled out and erected on its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz rocket and spacecraft is scheduled to launch on Friday at 11:41 a.m. EDT.

The spacecraft will carry cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy, who will serve as commander of the Expedition 52, as well as flight engineers Randy Bresnik from NASA and Paolo Nespoli from the European Space Agency, to the International Space Station.

"The trio will take a six-hour, 19-minute ride from Earth to the station's Rassvet module," NASA wrote in a blog update.

NASA and ESA released new images documenting the roll-out and preparation process in anticipation of Friday's launch.

Part of the preparations included a blessing performed Thursday on the launch pad by a Russian Orthodox priest.