RUSSIA: International team passes the last examination preparing for their flight into space this July from the Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan
Record ID:
837987
RUSSIA: International team passes the last examination preparing for their flight into space this July from the Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan
- Title: RUSSIA: International team passes the last examination preparing for their flight into space this July from the Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan
- Date: 20th June 2012
- Summary: STAR CITY, MOSCOW REGION, RUSSIA (JUNE 19, 2012) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) STAR CITY BUILDING EXTERIOR AND STATUE OUTSIDE STATUE RUSSIAN COSMONAUT YURI MALENCHENKO, U.S. ASTRONAUT SUNITA WILLIAMS, JAPANESE ASTRONAUT AKIHIKO HOSHIDE WALKING INTO HALL IN FRONT OF TABLE AND JOURNALISTS MALENCHENKO, WILLIAMS, HOSHIDE STANDING PAPERS, PENS AND FLAGS ON TABLE WILLIAMS SIGNING DOCUMENT AT TABLE AS OTHER SPACE CREW MEMBERS WATCH ON ZVEZDA TRAINING MODULE CAMERAMAN FILMING MALENCHENKO, WILLIAMS, HOSHIDE STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ASTRONAUT SUNITA WILLIAMS, SAYING: "I was on a mid-deck and so my main goal was part of the construction of the space station in that flight. This flight, the three of us working together in the Soyuz closely, it's a lot different being - like being - on the flight-deck. And then the mission for the space station now has moved on to science and so we have a lot on our plate, like Yuri (Malenchenko) mentioned, but a big part of that is the science exploration, so I'm looking forward to that aspect of this mission." CAMERAMAN FILMING SPACE TEAM MEMBERS ENTERING ZVEZDA TRAINING MODULE MONITORS SHOWING INSIDE OF TRAINING MODULE MONITORS SHOWING SPACE CREW INSIDE MODULE TECHNICAL CREW AT CONTROL ROOM PEOPLE IN CONTROL ROOM SOYUZ TRAINING MODULE TOP REPORTERS AND CAMERAS IN FRONT OF TRAINING MODULE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF COSMONAUT TRAINING CENTER OLEG KOTOV, SAYING: "(The testing) will allow us to evaluate the readiness of the crew for the flight and will allow an inter-departmental commission to make a correct decision about how ready the crew are for flight, and in the extreme option, if there is a choice to be made between the first and second crew then this evaluation will also count." SECOND (SUBSTUTUTE) CREW MEMBERS: RUSSIAN COSMONAUT ROMAN ROMANCHENKO, CANADIAN ASTRONAUT CHRIS HADFIELD, U.S. ASTRONAUT THOMAS MARSHBURN WALKING INTO HALL U.S., RUSSIAN AND CANADIAN FLAGS SPACE CREW STANDING BY TABLE AS ONE SIGNS PAPER ON TABLE CAMERAMAN FILMING SPACE CREW SITTING DOWN IN FRONT OF SOYUZ TRAINING MODULE RUSSIAN COSMONAUT ROMAN ROMANCHENKO SEATED U.S. ASTRONAUT THOMAS MARSHBURN SEATED SECOND (SUBSTITUTE) CREW SEATED NEAR MODULE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CANADIAN ASTRONAUT CHRIS HADFIELD, SAYING: "I've been lucky enough to train in many different places, I've been training in Russia since 1994. I had a chance to be a part of a crew that built part of space station Mir, using the shuttle. So, I count myself extremely lucky to be part of this crew and to have a chance to fly in space again and to live and work on the International Space Station. It's all part of one long wonderful continuum." SPACE TRAINING CENTRE LOGO SPACE CREW MEMBER GETTING INTO TRAINING MODULE CAMERAMAN FILMING SOYUZ TRAINING MODULE
- Embargoed: 5th July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- City:
- Country: Russia
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVACCQIL71RBWWE0W440TAHESSY2
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: New international crew, future members of expedition 32/33 to the International Space Station, took part in a final testing sessions at the Star City, outside of Moscow, on Tuesday (June 19).
Flight Engineers Sunita Williams of NASA, Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) wearing blue uniforms, took part in a training session in the Zvezda module at the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre.
The main crew members talked to the press before the start of their training, saying the the next trip would largely revolve around scientific activity.
"I was on a mid-deck and so my main goal was part of the construction of the space station in that flight. This flight, the three of us working together in the Soyuz closely, it's a lot different being - like being - on the flight-deck. And then the mission for the space station now has moved on to science and so we have a lot on our plate, like Yuri (Malenchenko) mentioned, but a big part of that is the science exploration, so I'm looking forward to that aspect of this mission," U.S. Astronaut Sunita Williams said.
The training exercise is part of the crew's preparations for their space flight on the Soyuz TMA-05M on July 15, for the International Space Sation at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
"(The testing) will allow us to evaluate the readiness of the crew for the flight and will allow an inter-departmental commission to make a correct decision about how ready the crew are for flight, and in the extreme option, if there is a choice to be made between the first and second crew then this evaluation will also count," Deputy Director of Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center Oleg Kotov, said.
The backup space crew comprised of Russian Cosmonaut Roman Romanchenko, Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield and U.S. Astronaut Thomas Marshburn were also passing the tests on Tuesday. Before entering the Soyuz training module, they told the journalists they were feeling lucky to have been chosen for this flight even as part of a substitute crew.
"I've been lucky enough to train in many different places, I've been training in Russia since 1994. I had a chance to be part of a crew that built part of space station Mir, using the shuttle. So, I count myself extremely lucky to be part of this crew and to have a chance to fly in space again and to live and work on the International Space Station. It's all part of one long wonderful continuum," Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield said.
Since the retirement of the space shuttles last year, the United States is dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the ISS, which costs the nation $60 million per person.
Moscow hopes it will begin to restore confidence in its once-pioneering space programme after a string of launch mishaps last year, including the failure of a mission touted as post-Soviet Russia's interplanetary debut. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None