(20 Sep 2004)
1. Exterior Star City cosmonaut training base near Moscow
2. Wide shot of international space station (ISS) mock-up craft
3. Various of astronauts signing training documents
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Leroy Chiao, US astronaut:
"Ours is the mission keeping the space station going. As you know, we are having a few problems and we will continue to do repairs, and that's our main goal, and of course we'll be doing science experiments as well."
5. Press taking photos
6. Crew walking into ISS mock-up, imitating actions of operating craft
7. Various of controllers and monitors showing astronauts training inside ISS mock-up
8. Various exterior the ISS mock-up
STORYLINE:
The replacement crew for the International Space Station started two days of pre-flight exams on Monday amid final preparations to relieve the two-man Russian-American crew finishing a six-month mission.
Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and US astronaut Leroy Chiao are being tested on manually docking and undocking the Soyuz space craft with the orbiting space station and other manoeuvres ahead of the scheduled October 9 launch from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome.
Chiao said the crew's mission will be to continue repairing the international space station as well as conducting scientific experiments.
Russian space officials said last week, however, that the launch may have to be delayed for 10 days due to a problem with the craft's docking system.
Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin also will travel into space but is to return 10 days later with the current crew, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and astronaut Mike Fincke.
Russian space vehicles have provided the only link with the space station since the United States grounded the shuttle fleet after Columbia broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
