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Crews of new ISS mission to fly to Baikonur

Soyuz TMA-22 launch is scheduled on November 14, its docking with the ISS on November 16

MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) —— The resident and backup crews of a next ISS mission will fly Monday to the Baikonur spaceport, where they will wait for the launch of a Soyuz spaceship.

“The departure is scheduled at 10 a.m. Moscow time, before the takeoff the spacemen will meet with journalists and will have a traditional photo session in the Star City,” spokesperson of the Cosmonaut Training Center Irina Rogova told Itar-Tass.

The crew will be brought to the Baikonur spaceport from the Moscow regional airfield Chkalovsky by two airplanes.

Russians cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and a NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank will have two last tries of the Sokol spacesuits and an examination of the Soyuz TMA-22 spaceship, which will bring them to the orbit in two weeks. The first try will be made on Tuesday, November 1, and the second one on November 9. After the first try the crewmen will make their remarks and proposals, which will be taken into account in the final adjustment of the spaceship before the launch.

The backup crew – Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin and Joseph Acaba will participate in the final operation together with the resident crew. They should maintain “the combat readiness” until the launch.

The crewmen will wait for a launch at the Baikonur hotel Cosmonaut under the strict supervision of doctors. The Soyuz TMA-22 launch is scheduled on November 14, its docking with the ISS on November 16.