high res (1.0 M) low res (74 K)
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JSC2004-E-19688 (14 April 2004) --- Astronaut Edward M. (Mike) Fincke, NASA International Space Station (ISS) science officer and flight engineer, departs building 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, after the final fit check in the Soyuz. Expedition 9 is scheduled to launch on April 19, 2004, to the ISS for arrival on April 21. Cosmonaut Gennady I. Padalka, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Expedition 9 mission commander, and Fincke will spend six months on the ISS, replacing the Expedition 8 crew, which has been aboard the Station since October 20, 2003. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andre 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
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