KAZAKHSTAN: Russian space officials put rocket in place that will ferry personnel to the International Space Station.
Record ID:
872648
KAZAKHSTAN: Russian space officials put rocket in place that will ferry personnel to the International Space Station.
- Title: KAZAKHSTAN: Russian space officials put rocket in place that will ferry personnel to the International Space Station.
- Date: 12th July 2012
- Summary: BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN (JULY 12, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RUSSIAN SPACE AGENCY BAIKONUR FACILITY ROCKET IN HANGAR POSTER OF COSMONAUT READING IN RUSSIAN 'BAIKONUR IS THE BEGINNING OF THE PATH FROM EARTH TO SPACE' ROCKET ROLLING OUT OF HANGAR OFFICERS IN TANK NEAR LAUNCH SITE OFFICERS AND DOG WALKING ALONG TRACKS ROCKET ON TRACKS IN DISTANCE, PEOPLE GATHERED ALONG TRACKS CAMERAMEN VARIOUS OF ROCKET MOVING ALONG TRACKS WHEELS OF ROCKET CARRIER SOYUZ ROCKET PASSENGER AREA
- Embargoed: 27th July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kazakhstan
- City:
- Country: Kazakhstan
- Topics: Transport
- Reuters ID: LVA9NK8RNSOE4SE73AZ6HZSTABN2
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Russian space agency workers readied the launch area in Kazakhstan on Thursday (July 12), where the Russian Soyuz rocket will take off, carrying three astronauts into space this weekend.
The launch, scheduled for Sunday (July 15), will carry NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide to the International Space Station (ISS), replacing Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko and flight engineers Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers who returned to Earth on July 1.
Malenchenko's wife and daughter were in Baikonur to watch as the rocket, which will also carry one of his daughter's dolls, was lifted into place.
"A little blonde doll with a pink dress," will accompany the flight crew of Expedition 32, said his wife, Ekaterina Malenchenko.
"Yes, she's going for the first time, and she's the most brave of all. It's not her nature, it just has to be done," she joked.
The Soyuz has become the main mode of transportation for personnel travelling to the ISS, since NASA discontinued its shuttle programme last year.
"Right now in the partnership, our Russian colleagues are doing all the launches and the landings for manned space flight, but other partners continue to contribute with non-manned space flight supplying the space station," said NASA Director of Human Space Flight Programmes Joel Montalbano.
The team has been in Kazakhstan training and inspected the Soyuz on Tuesday (July 10). Williams said she expected an uneventful flight.
"I don't know exactly, but I hope that, they know, that it should be normal, it should be without problems. I have a good team. We work well together. So the flight should be normal, almost ordinary," Williams said.
The crew is expected to return to Earth in mid-November. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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