ISS 45/46 mission crews successfully passed exams (PHOTO)
The final stage of training of 45/46 ISS mission primary and backup crews came to an end and cosmonauts successfully passed their exams, Roskosmos press service says.
The primary crew consisting of Sergei Volkov, Andreas Mogensen and Kazakhstan cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov had to carry out the elements of the flight program by Soyuz TMA-M manned transport spacecraft. The crew identified and removed timely all emergencies. Mutual understanding, deep knowledge and skills helped the ISS mission participants fulfill all the tasks set, the press service notes.
The backup crew including Roskosmos cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka, Sergei Prokopyev and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet exercised at the ISS Russian segment simulator. The actions of the crew were highly evaluated by the examiners.
On Monday, August 10, the CTC will hold a meeting of the inter-departmental commission for discussing the results of the crew and taking a decision on their further training. Soyuz TMA-18M with ISS-45/46/EP-18 crews onboard will blast off from Baikonur on September 2, 2015. The mission commander Sergei Volkov is expected to work at the ISS for 6 months, while the trip of his colleagues - first Danish cosmonaut Andreas Mogensen and Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov is going to last for 10 days.