Soyuz trains on the launch pad

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) on December 13 moved the Soyuz spacecraft into a launch pad, preparing for a flight into space, taking three travelers to the International Space Station (ISS), according to AFP. .

Soyuz TMA-20 will bring three astronauts into space - (Photo: interspacenews)

The Soyuz TMA-20 was delivered to the launch pad at Russia's Baikonur Space Airport in Kazakhstan and is expected to fly into space from December 16 (local time).

In this mission, the ship will take three people, including Russian astronaut Dmitry Kondratiev, astronaut from the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) Cady Coleman and Italian astronaut of the Space Agency. Europe (ESA) Paolo Nespoli came to work for nearly six months at ISS.

All three will match the three astronauts present on the station, the Russian ISS commander Alexander Kaleri, the Russian astronaut Oleg Skripochka and the American astronaut Scott Kelly to become the 26th international ISS crew.

The three astronauts on the station were loaded up by Soyuz TMA-01M on October 10, and are expected to return to Earth in March 2011 during the first flight of the newly modified Soyuz spacecraft with conditioning systems. Modern control by computer.

Meanwhile, the Soyuz TMA-20 crew is expected to return to Earth in May 2011.

It is known that on November 26, Russia also welcomed the Soyuz TMA-19 ship back with commander Fyodor Yurchikhin (Russia) and two astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker (female, same from NASA), later nearly six months working on the station.

Soyuz crew TMA-20 (from left to right): Cady Coleman, Dmitry Kondratiev and Paolo Nespoli - (Photo: spaceports)