Expedition 27 Crew Prepares for Launch as their Soyuz Rocket Move to Launch Pad
The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft and its booster and were moved to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a railcar April 2 for final preparations before launch April 5, Baiknour time, to the International Space Station. The Soyuz will carry Expedition 27 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Russian Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko to the complex. The trio will spend six months on the station, joining station Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli, who have been in orbit since December 2010. Samokutyaev, Garan and Borisenko are in final training for launch with their backups, Anatoly Ivanishin, Dan Burbank and Anton Shkaplerov. The footage includes interviews with Astronaut Nicole Stott, STS-133 Mission Specialist, and with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Deputy Director for ISS, NASA Flight Crew Operations.
Happy 50th birthday, so to say !