US-Russian Station Crew Begin Final Training

A US-Russian space crew arrived on Wednesday at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to prepare for life on the International Space Station (ISS).

American Commander William Shepherd and Russians Yury Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalov arrived from the Cosmonaut Training Center near Moscow to study the space module Zvezda, said a Russian space official.

Beginning this winter, they will become the first team of astronauts to begin living in the station.

The Russian-built Zvezda module, which is due to be launched July 12, is to be the living and working quarters of the crews on the ISS, said Vyacheslav Mikhailichenko, a senior spokesman for the Russian space agency.

“They are getting acquainted with what they will have to come across in space. They will have to live and work in this module,” said Mikhailichenko.

Two other crews, Gennady Padalka and Nikolai Budarin from Russia, together with Russians Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin and American Kenneth Bowersox, have been undergoing training at Baikonur since Tuesday.

The international space station is a project which involves 16 countries, including the United States, Canada, Japan and Russia.

The space station, assembled in December 1998, is currently comprised of two modules — the US-built Unity and the Russian module Zarya.

Zvezda was due to be launched last year but the project has suffered repeated delays for numerous reasons, said Mikhailichenko.

The crews are due to return to Moscow on May 26.

Space Daily Editorial Team