Posted: Mon, Jan 23, 2006, 7:39 AM ET (1239 GMT)
Russia is postponing the launch of the next crew to the International Space Station because of technical problems with their Soyuz spacecraft, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Monday. The Expedition 13 crew of Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams, along with Brazilian guest cosmonaut Marcos Pontes, were scheduled to fly on the station on March 22. However, citing "malfunctions of several devices of the control systems" on the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft, Roskosmos officials said the launch would be delayed one week. The delay is not expected to pose any major problem for the mission. The delay will also postpone the launch of a Progress cargo spacecraft, now slated to launch on April 24.
