The ninth expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) will spend the final 189th day of its mission. Russian Gennady Padalka and American Michael Fincke will take their seats in the descending capsule of spaceship Soyuz TMA-4 that will bring them to the Earth on Saturday evening.
“The crew worked perfect, there were no problems with industrious guys,” deputy chief of flights of the Flight Control Centre Viktor Blagov told Itar-Tass. The scientific programme of the expedition included more than 40 various experiments including on contracts with European and Japanese space agencies. Padalka raised pea seeds of the third vegetation on the orbit and prepared sprout for Salizhan Sharipov who will raise the fourth generation of legumes for the first time.
Cosmonauts made four spacewalks during which they repaired th | Ads |  |
e US gyrodine that orients the ISS in the outer space and installed equipment on the surface of the station for a future docking with the first European cargo spaceship ATV. Meanwhile, the crew had to repair US spacesuits EMU and repair the oxygen generator Elektron. “We are very glad that we leave the station to other spacemen in good condition,” commander of the ninth ISS expedition Padalka told Itar-Tass.
Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao officially substituted for Padalka and Fincke on Friday. Cosmonauts who return to the Earth will pack their luggage on Saturday afternoon. Lieutenant-Colonel of the Space Troops Yuri Shargin who is on a ten-day mission will come back with them. The landing of the spaceship Soyuz is scheduled at 04.35 Moscow time on October 24, a source in the Flight Control Centre told Itar-Tass.
MOSCOW, October 23 (Itar-Tass)
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