- Title: Expedition 50 space crew passes tests at Star city ahead of November 15 launch
- Date: 25th October 2016
- Summary: STAR CITY, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 25, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** EXPEDITION 50 SPACE CREW OF PEGGY WHITSON, THOMAS PESQUET AND OLEG NOVITSKIY WALKING TOWARDS MEMBERS OF COMMISSION BEFORE EXAM AT RUSSIAN STAR CITY NOVITSKIY SIGNING DOCUMENT WHITSON SIGNING DOCUMENT EXAMINATION COMMISSION MEMBERS WHITSON SMILING, PAN TO NOVITSKIY AND PESQUET SMALL FLAGS ON DESK WHITSON, NOVITSKIY AND PESQUET POSING FOR CAMERAS IN FRONT OF REPLICA OF SOYUZ SPACECRAFT (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ASTRONAUT, PEGGY WHITSON, SAYING: "Well I was hoping this Soyuz would be bigger, but it seems to be about the same size as the last time. But I will do my best to take notes for Oleg and Thomas and keep timing events for them to keep track of things and just be supportive in their role." COSMONAUT'S LEGS (SOUNDBITE) (English) EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY ASTRONAUT THOMAS PESQUET, SAYING: "The way you fly it is a little bit like a bigger plane, so if you ask me I am going to tell you the closest there is to airline flying, and that's why I've always liked to fly in the Soyuz because it reminds me of a time not so distant." PATCHES ON SLEEVES OF COSMONAUTS SPACESUITS SPACE CREW POSING IN FRONT OF SOYUZ PHOTOGRAPH OF INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION VARIOUS OF COSMONAUTS INSIDE SOYUZ HAND PRESSING BUTTONS EQUIPMENT EXTERIOR OF SOYUZ WITH OPEN DOOR AND COSMONAUTS INSIDE STAR CITY STAFF IN FRONT OF MONITORS SHOWING CREW INSIDE SOYUZ SPACECRAFT SPACE CREW INSIDE SOYUZ SEEN ON SCREEN STAR CITY STAFF IN FRONT OF MONITORS SPACE CREW INSIDE SOYUZ SEEN ON SCREEN
- Embargoed: 9th November 2016 09:48
- Keywords: Space ISS Soyuz mission crew Star city exam Peggy Wilson Thomas Pesquet Oleg Novitsky
- Location: STAR CITY, RUSSIA
- Reuters ID: LVA00155I605J
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian Space Agency cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency passed exams at the Star City outside Moscow on Tuesday (October 25) ahead of launch to the International Space Station.
The crew is scheduled to blast off from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft on November 15 and return to Earth six months later.
For Peggy Whitson it will be her third long-term trip to the ISS. The Iowa native have already completed two six-months missions aboard the station in 2002, and was ISS commander for Expedition 16 in 2008. Total she spent 377 days in space - the most for a US woman - and performed six spacewalks.
During a short briefing before the exam, Whitson described her impressions of the Soyuz: "Well I was hoping this Soyuz would be bigger, but it seems to be about the same size as the last time. But I will do my best to take notes for Oleg and Thomas and keep timing events for them to keep track of things and just be supportive in their role."
For the Air France pilot and now French astronaut Thomas Pesquet it will be his first space trip. He is preparing for a six-month mission to the International Space Station where he will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 50 and 51. He said he found lots of similarities between flying in an airliner and Soyuz.
"The way you fly it is a little bit like a bigger plane, so if you ask me I am going to tell you the closest there is to airline flying, and that's why I've always liked to fly in the Soyuz because it reminds me of a time not so distant," Pesquet said.
For the third member of the space crew, Russian Air Force lieutenant colonel Oleg Novitskiy, this will be his second mission to the ISS.
He spent five months aboard the station in 2012-2013. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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