Asia-Pacific

Russia announces new space crew

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-04 16:29

US astronaut Timothy J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi (L-R) hold hands during a news conference at the Star City space centre outside Moscow on Dec 3, 2009. The three crew members of the 22nd mission are scheduled to take off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome aboard a Russian Soyuz TMA-17 rocket to the International Space Station on December 21.[Xinhua]

MOSCOW: A special Russian commission announced on Thursday the final list of the crew members for the 22nd mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

All three astronauts, including one Russian, one American and one Japanese, had passed their final tests before flight with extraordinary scores last weekend, said Russia's astronaut training center.

The mission is scheduled to leave for the ISS on board the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft on Dec 21.