A new ISS crew is ready for flight

The inter-departmental commission has taken a decision on the flight readiness of new joint crews of the International Space Station (ISS), said deputy chief of the Flight Centre Andrei Maiboroda.

He said that the ISS-8 crew consists of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri - ISS flight engineer, commander of the Soyuz-TMA cargo ship which will bring the crew to the station; American astronaut Michael Foale - commander of the ISS, flight engineer of the Soyuz-TMA cargo ship; astronaut of the European Space Agency Pedro Duque - flight engineer of the visiting expedition to the ISS and flight engineer of the Soyuz.

The stand-up crew: Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, American astronaut William McArthur, and astronaut of the European Space Agency Andre Kuipers.

The start of the Russian Soyuz to the ISS has been scheduled for October 18. Kaleri and Foale will replace the main crew at the station, now in orbit, which consists of Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko (commander) and American astronaut Edward Lu (flight engineer).

The flight of the new crew will last 200 days, though Pedro Duque will leave the station in ten days. Duque will return to Earth with the main crew of the ISS-7.