Russia's Energia Corp. trains own cosmonauts

The Energia Space Rocketry Corporation recommends three of its staffers for the Russian cosmonaut team, Rosaviakosmos (the Russian aerospace agency) said Tuesday. They are - Andrei Borisenko (born in 1964), the Russian ISS segment flight chief at the Mission Control Center, engineers Oleg Artemyev (born in 1970) and Mark Serov (born in 1974).

The three candidatures will be considered by the State Inter-Departmental Commission at its May 29 sitting at Rosaviakosmos. They passed technical examinations in January 2003.

Rosaviakosmos said the Russian cosmonaut team is occasionally replenished by engineer and technical specialists. They are included in actually every crew of the International Space Station. Nikolai Budarin was in its previous, 6th expedition.