Soyuz Tma 04M Continues Launch Campaign

Cosmonaut Padalka Gennady Ivanovich (Roscosmos, Russia), Cosmonaut Revin Sergey Nikolaevich (Roscosmos, Russia) and Astronaut Joseph Michael Acaba (NASA, USA), had training sessions onboard the spacecraft, acquainted with the on-board documentation and the content of cargo launched during their final training at the Baikonur Cosmodrome (Tyuratam) in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-04M crew and also made a fitting of the Sokol-KB spacesuits and individual liners prior to their scheduled liftoff May 15, 2012.

The crew will become a part of the Exepdition 31 ISS crew and stay in space about four months with plans for their return to earth in September 2012. The trio launching in May will join ISS Expedition 31 crew Donald Pettit, Oleg Kononenko, and Andre Kuipers, who will land in June, 2012.

ISS Expedition 31 should have a full crew compliment when the American SpaceX private cargo space freighter known as Dragon arrives later this month.

Credit: fromatlantistosphinx.blogspot.com