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State commission in Baikonur approves crew for ISS

The liftoff of Soyuz-TMA-06M is planned for 14:51 Moscow time, October 23
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS
Photo EPA/ITAR-TASS

BAIKONUR, October 22 (Itar-Tass) —— The state commission in Baikonur on Monday took the final decision on the international expedition crewmembers who will start out for the International Space Station on October 23.

Russians Oleg Novistky and Yevgeny Tarelkin and American Kevin Ford will start out aboard the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft for the ISS on Tuesday, a commission member told Itar-Tass.

Orbital Expedition 33/34 will last four months.

In September, the interdepartmental commission gave the highest “fifth” mark to the crew for the qualification exam results. Backup crewmembers Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and Christopher Cassidy also showed excellent skills on the models of the Russian ISS segment and a Soyuz TMA-M.

After space shuttles stopped to fly last year, Russian Soyuzes are the only vehicles to carry crews to the ISS and back.

The liftoff of Soyuz-TMA-06M is planned for 14:51 Moscow time, October 23.