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Primary and back-up ISS-33/34 crews to be appointed in Zvyozdny Gorodok

Commission members say both crews passed the exam successfully

MOSCOW, September 25 (Itar-Tass) —— A special commission will meet on Tuesday in Zvyozdny Gorodok (Star City) to sum up the results of a two-day examination session for the primary and back-up crews of next long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) told Itar-Tass.

“The commission will endorse the results of the comprehensive examination training that was held at the Cosmonauts Training Center (CTC) at the end of the last week and will appoint the primary and back-up crews for the ISS-33/34 mission,” the spokesman said.

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky, Yevgeny Tarelkin, and NASA astronaut Kevin Ford spent two days in the mockups of the Russian segment of the ISS and the digital spaceship Soyuz TMA-M. Their backup pilots Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and Christopher Cassidy also had a pre-launch training.

The flight of the primary crew of the ISS-33/34 expedition is to last about five months.

In case the commission takes a positive decision, the crew will include Oleg Novtskiy and Yevgeny Tarelkin of Russia, and Kevin Ford of the United States. It will be the first space flight for the two Russian cosmonauts, whereas their American colleague already has space flight experience with the Discovery shuttle spacecraft.

Commission members say both crews passed the exam successfully.

Originally, the launch of the Soyuz TMA-06M was planned for October 15. However, after a descent-module instrument malfunction was discovered during the preparation, the launch was postponed to October 23. The Soyuz will dock to the International Space Station on October 25.

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