Russia's Cosmonaut Training Center Confirms Next ISS Crew Ready For March Flight

The interdepartmental commission at Russia's Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) has confirmed that Expedition 59 crew members, scheduled to depart to the International Space Station (ISS) in March, are ready for the flight, a spokesperson for the GCTC told Sputnik on Thursday

ZVEZDNY GORODOK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) The interdepartmental commission at Russia's Gagarin Research & Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) has confirmed that Expedition 59 crew members, scheduled to depart to the International Space Station (ISS) in March, are ready for the flight, a spokesperson for the GCTC told Sputnik on Thursday.

This year's first manned ISS mission will launch on March 14. The main crew will comprise Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague, who were supposed to fly to the ISS on a Soyuz-FG rocket in October 2018 but could not due to launch malfunction, as well as NASA astronaut Christina Koch.

"According to the conclusion of the interdepartmental commission, the main and backup crews are prepared to perform the flight on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft and the Russian segment of the ISS and can start pre-launch preparations at the Baikonur space center," the spokesperson said.

The commission made the decision based on training sessions at the GCTC that involved simulators of the Soyuz manned spacecraft and the Russian segment of the ISS, which the crew members underwent earlier in the week.

The crew will spend 203 days on the ISS. This will be Ovchinin's second flight, and Hague and Koch's first. During their mission, the astronauts will receive Progress, Dragon, Cygnus and HTV cargo ships, perform spacewalks, and conduct scientific experiments.