Russia to host international exercise on astronauts' rescue in case of emergency landing

The international Russian-American-Canadian exercises for rescuing astronauts in case of an emergency landing will be held in September in the Gelendzhik harbour on the Black Sea, said head of the Russian Defence Ministry's federal department for air and space search and rescue Vladimir Popov at a press conference on Thursday.

"The aim of the exercise is to work out a procedure of interaction between rescue air forces of Russia, the USA and Canada when rendering assistance to astronauts of the International Space Station who conducted an emergency landing on water on the reserve test ground," Popov said.

The main task of the exercise is search, evacuation and medical assistance to the crew of the International Space Station after an emergency landing. Geledzhik has conditions that are close to those of the current reserve ground for emergency landing, he said.

The exercise will be held on September 9-13 and will involve 20 experts from each party, Popov explained. The exercise will also involve helicopters, airplanes and ships of the Black Sea Fleet. It is financed by the Russian Defence Ministry from the military training funds, he emphasized.

During the exercise a real rescue capsule with three astronauts will land on water, one of the crewmembers will be evacuated by helicopter and taken to hospital. Another astronaut will be taken to one of the ships where he will be rendered medical assistance. The third one, according to scenario, will not have any injuries and will be brought to the mainland, Popov said.