Countdown for space station mission starts

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Published: 15 May, 2009, 11:07

Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

The next crew of the International Space Station is heading to the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from where they’ll blast off into space on May 27.

The main and backup crews flied in on two planes from Moscow on Friday. They will use the two weeks left till the launch of the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft for final preparations, like adjusting flight suits and seats in the space capsule to fit them perfectly. They will be living under close monitoring from doctors the whole time.

Belgian Frank De Winne, Russian Roman Romanenko and Canadian Robert Thirsk are to join cosmonauts already on board the ISS, after which the permanent crew of the space station will, for the first time, consist of six people.

All five primary partners for the biggest space project – United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan – will then have their representatives in orbit, which underlines the symbolic importance of the Expedition 20.

For Romanenko personally the mission is historic for his family, because his father Yury Romanenko was a cosmonaut too. The Romanenkos are to become the second “space dynasty” in Russia after Aleksandr and Sergey Volkov.

The backup crew is Russian Dmitri Kondratiyev, Dutchman André Kuipers and Canadian Chris Hadfield. They will be on high alert and ready to replace any member of the mission in case of emergency.