Russian cosmonaut, Hero of Turkmenistan Oleg Kononenko has been approved as a crew member of the “Soyuz MS-24” spacecraft, which today, at 18:44 Moscow time, launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, writes RIA Novosti with reference to information from Roscosmos.
In addition to Kononenko, the team includes Russian cosmonaut Nikolai Chub and American astronaut Loral O'Hara. Members of the backup crew were Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and American Tracy Dyson.
Both Russian cosmonauts will spend one year on the ISS, and O'Hara will spend six months. During their stay in space, astronauts will have to conduct about sixty experiments, as well as perform several spacewalks.