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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article (SSATA) in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. / Credit: NASA
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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and two Russian cosmonauts are looking forward to a March 27 launch to the International Space Station to start an expedition that may be filled with spacewalks and visiting spacecraft.
"It’s shaping up to be a really exciting expedition," Cassidy, a 43-year-old U.S. Navy SEAL and veteran of a 2009 shuttle flight, said during a press conference today at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We’ve got a lot going on."
Four Russian spacewalks and potentially three U.S. excursions could take place during the more than five-month expedition.
Cassidy said the crew also could see every vehicle that flies to the station make a visit.
That includes Russia’s Soyuz crew craft and Progress resupply ship, Europe’s ATV and Japan’s HTV cargo vehicles, SpaceX’s Dragon and Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Cygnus.
Cassidy will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, a veteran of two long-duration flights, and first-time flyer Alexander Misurkin.
"It will be a great experience for me and the biggest thing in my whole life," said Misurkin.
NASA and Russian space agency officials are considering having the crew attempt to dock with the station just four orbits after launching, instead of the usual two-day journey.
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According to him, members of Expedition 35/36 – commander Pavel Vinogradov and flight engineer Alexander Misurkin, both of Russia, and NASA flight engineer Christopher Cassidy – will stay in orbit for 167 days. Their return to the Earth has been scheduled for September 11.
The standby crew includes Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky and U.S. astronaut Michael Hopkins.
Expedition 35/36 crewmembers will join the Russian Roman Romanenko, the American Thomas Mashburn, and the Canadian Chris Hadfield, who are already working in orbit as part of the Expedition 34/35 crew.
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Expedition 35 Crew Portrait
Expedition 35 crew members take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Pictured on the front row are Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield (right), commander; and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, flight engineer. Pictured from the left (back row) are Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, all flight engineers. Photo credit: NASA
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Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov (second right), Expedition 35 flight engineer and Expedition 36 commander; along with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (right) and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, both Expedition 35/36 flight engineers, participate in an emergency scenario training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Instructors assisted the crew members. Photo credit: NASA
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Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (left) and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy (right), both Expedition 35/36 flight engineers; along with Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, Expedition 35 flight engineer and Expedition 36 commander, participate in an emergency scenario training session in an International Space Station mock-up/trainer in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
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Expedition 34/35/36 crew members participate in an emergency scenario training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Crew members pictured clockwise (seated from second left) are Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer; Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, Expedition 35 flight engineer and Expedition 36 commander; NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer; NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Expedition 34/35 flight engineer; Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Expedition 34/35 flight engineer; and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, Expedition 34 flight engineer and Expedition 35 commander. Interpreters and crew instructors assisted the crew members. Photo credit: NASA
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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article (SSATA) in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Technicians assisted Cassidy. Photo credit: NASA
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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer, gets help donning a training version of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit in preparation for a fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article (SSATA) in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer, prepares for a flight in a NASA T-38 trainer jet at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
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NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, Expedition 35/36 flight engineer, attired in a training version of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit, is submerged in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) near NASA's Johnson Space Center. Divers (out of frame) are in the water to assist Cassidy in his rehearsal, which is intended to help prepare him for work on the exterior of the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA
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Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov, Expedition 35 flight engineer and Expedition 36 commander, uses a computer during a routine operations training session in an International Space Station mock-up/trainer in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
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Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov (center), Expedition 35 flight engineer and Expedition 36 commander; along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (foreground) and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, both Expedition 35/36 flight engineers, participate in a routine operations training session in an International Space Station mock-up/trainer in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA
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The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-133 crew member on space shuttle Discovery after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 7 a.m. (EST) on March 7, 2011. Discovery spent eight days, 16 hours, and 46 minutes attached to the orbiting laboratory. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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Quelle: NASA
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