ISS partners confirm April launch of replacement crew
Posted: Sat, Mar 29, 2003, 7:05 PM ET (0005 GMT)
A Soyuz spacecraft will launch late next month carrying a two-person replacement crew for the International Space Station, the ISS partner nations confirmed this week. The Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 26 at 10:50 am EDT (1450 GMT), according to a statement issued by the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos on Thursday. The Soyuz will carry a two-man "caretaker" crew for the station to replace the three-man Expedition Six crew currently on the station; that crew will return to Earth in the Soyuz spacecraft currently docked to the station. In the wake of the Columbia accident in February, the partners agreed to use two-person crews on the station to conserve resources until the shuttle returns to flight. The crew will not be officially named until April 18, Rosaviakosmos officials said, but will likely include American astronaut Ed Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. Florida Today reported Friday that an internal NASA status report named Lu and Malenchenko as the members of the crew, while collectSPACE published a version of the Expedition Seven mission patch that lists Lu and Malenchenko.
A Soyuz spacecraft will launch late next month carrying a two-person replacement crew for the International Space Station, the ISS partner nations confirmed this week. The Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 26 at 10:50 am EDT (1450 GMT), according to a statement issued by the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos on Thursday. The Soyuz will carry a two-man "caretaker" crew for the station to replace the three-man Expedition Six crew currently on the station; that crew will return to Earth in the Soyuz spacecraft currently docked to the station. In the wake of the Columbia accident in February, the partners agreed to use two-person crews on the station to conserve resources until the shuttle returns to flight. The crew will not be officially named until April 18, Rosaviakosmos officials said, but will likely include American astronaut Ed Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. Florida Today reported Friday that an internal NASA status report named Lu and Malenchenko as the members of the crew, while collectSPACE published a version of the Expedition Seven mission patch that lists Lu and Malenchenko.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Monday, February 2
First launch of Ariane 6 with four boosters
ESA — 6:37 am ET (1137 GMT) Europe’s digital Earth gets ready to grow user community
ESA — 6:37 am ET (1137 GMT) Inside the high-stakes battle over Space Force advocacy
Washington Times — 6:34 am ET (1134 GMT) SpaceX rocket launch planned Monday morning at Vandenberg Space Force Base
KSBY-TV San Luis Obispo, CA — 6:32 am ET (1132 GMT) SpaceX Plans Data Center Satellite Constellation
Aviation Week — 6:30 am ET (1130 GMT) |
