[sarex] EXP 9 NEXT TO TAKE COMMAND

[Arthur Z Rowe <n1orc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC - Amsat #31468


*Expedition 9 Next Crew to Take Command of Space Station *
The International Space Station's next set of residents will arrive in 
April. Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer and 
NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke are slated to launch from Baikonur 
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 18 aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft 
and arrive at the Station on April 21.

European Space Agency Astronaut André Kuipers will travel with 
Expedition 9 to the Station and return to Earth with Expedition 8 aboard 
the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft.

After nine days of joint operations and handover activities with the 
Expedition 8 crew, Padalka and Fincke will spend about six months aboard 
the Station. Their tasks include maintaining ISS operations, continuing 
science operations and conducting two spacewalks.

Padalka is a space flight veteran. He spent 198 days aboard the Russian 
Mir space station in 1999. Expedition 9 is Fincke's first trip to space. 
Their tour of duty is scheduled to end in late October when the 
Expedition 10 crew, Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan 
S. Sharipov, replaces them.

Visit the Expedition 9 Crew page </station/crew/exp9/index.html>.




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