high res (0.9 M) low res (77 K)
| JSC2004-E-19662 (13 April 2004) --- Cosmonaut Gennady I.
Padalka (center saluting), Russia’s Federal Space Agency Expedition 9 mission
commander; astronaut Edward M. (Mike) Fincke (foreground), NASA International
Space Station (ISS) science officer and flight engineer; and European Space
Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands (background) are
greeted by launch officials after arrival at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, six days
prior to their scheduled launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-4 vehicle. The trio
is scheduled to launch on April 19, 2004, to the ISS for arrival on April
21. Padalka and Fincke will spend six months on the ISS, replacing the Expedition
8 crew, which has been aboard the Station since October 20, 2003. Kuipers,
who is flying under a commercial contract between ESA and Russia’s Federal
Space Agency, will return to Earth with the Expedition 8 crew on April 30,
2004. Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls |
