New International Space Station crew approved

MOSCOW, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The 23rd crew for the International Space Station (ISS) was approved on Thursday, said Russia's Federal Space Agency.

The new expedition crew that will depart on Friday consists of Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko, as well as U.S. female astronaut Tracy Caldwell, according to the space agency's official website.

A Russian Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft with the crew members aboard is scheduled to blast off from the Kazakh Baikonur cosmodrome early Friday, and dock with the ISS on Sunday.

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Prospective ISS crew take exams outside Moscow

MOSCOW, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The crew of the next expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) and their backups have begun pre-flight exams, the cosmonaut training center outside Moscow said on Thursday. Full Story>>