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RF, US astronauts to go on first-ever, year-long ISS mission 2015

In 2025 NASA is planning to make a manned flight to the asteroid and to the Mars in the 2030s
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

WASHINGTON, October 6 (Itar-Tass) —— A Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut will go on a first-ever, year-long mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015. The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos and other partners in the ISS project came to an agreement to this effect on Friday, NASA reported.

Two crewmen – a Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut – will go on an ISS mission and will fly back to the Earth in the Russian spaceship Soyuz. Their ISS mission is to start in spring 2015, the US space agency reported. The concrete crew and the details of the ISS mission will be determined later after the negotiations between the partners.

NASA hopes that a longer ISS mission from current several months to one year will make it possible to gather precious scientific data needed for future manned flights in the solar system. In particular, the specialists hope to obtain the information how the human body reacts and get adapted to heavy conditions in the space.

ISS program manager in NASA Michael Suffredini noted that this information is badly needed for planning future missions in deep space, and the ISS can act as a unique laboratory for medico-biological researches for these purposes.

In 2025 NASA is planning to make a manned flight to the asteroid and to the Mars in the 2030s.