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04/04/07: Soyuz Assembly Complete: Expedition 15 to Launch on April 7. Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia: In the LV Integration and Checkout Facility, the basic integration of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the upper composite has been completed. A Technical management meeting was held, chaired by President and Designer General of S.P. Korolev RSC Energia N.N. Sevastiyanov and the State Commission. It was decided to proceed with the roll-out to the launch pad of the launch vehicle carrying transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-10. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and cosmonaut Oleg Kotov of the 15th International Space Station crew are scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17:31 UT (13:31 p.m. EDT/21:31 Moscow time) on April 7, to begin a six-month stay in space. With them will be Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi. He is an American flying under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He will return to Earth with Expedition 14 crew members, Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, on April 20. Expedition 14 launched to the station last Sept. 20.
April 4, 2007, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia: In the LV Integration and Checkout Facility, the basic integration of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the upper composite has been completed. Credit: S.P. Korolev Rocket & Space Corporation Energia
March 2007: Attired in Russian Sokol launch and entry suits, cosmonauts Fyodor N. Yurchikhin (right), Expedition 15 commander; Oleg V. Kotov, flight engineer, both representing Russia's Federal Space Agency; and spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi join hands as they pose for a portrait in Star City, Russia. Image credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
March 28, Baikonur launch site, branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia: The primary and backup crews of the ISS Expedition 15 and Taxi Mission 12 have entered into their final training phase in the processing facility. Fyodor Yurchikhin (S.P. Korolev RSC Energia), Oleg Kotov (Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center) and Charles Simonyi (USA) reported to General Designer N.N. Sevastianov on their readiness to proceed with the training. The cosmonauts have inspected the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft, tried on Sokol-KV spacesuits and customized contoured couches, went through the on-board documentation and the launch manifest, checked their radio communications equipment, as well as conducted a training session for scientific experiments. Credit: S.P. Korolev Rocket & Space Corporation Energia
After its April 7 launch, Expedition 15's Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft is scheduled to dock at the station a little after 3 p.m. on April 9.
There they will be greeted by their third Expedition 15 crew member, astronaut Sunita Williams. She launched to the station aboard the STS-116 mission of Discovery on Dec. 9 and arrived at the station Dec. 11. She joined Expedition 14 in progress and will provide Expedition 15 with an experienced flight engineer for the early part of its increment.
Williams, 41, is a Naval Academy graduate and a Navy commander. She flew helicopters and was a helicopter test pilot before being selected as an astronaut in 1998.
Yurchikhin, 48, will be making his second flight into space. He was a member of the STS-112 crew which launched to the station on Oct. 7, 2002, with the Starboard 1 Truss. He holds a Ph.D. in economics and was named a cosmonaut-candidate in 1997.
Kotov, 41, is making his first spaceflight. He graduated from the Moscow Medical Academy in 1988, and was named a cosmonaut-candidate in 1996.
Astronaut Clayton Anderson is scheduled to replace Williams as a flight engineer during Expedition 15. Anderson, 48, holds a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998 and will be making his first spaceflight.
Two Expedition 16 crew members are expected to arrive next fall to replace Yurchikhin and Kotov.
- courtesy of NASA & S.P. Korolev Rocket & Space Corporation Energia
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