Comprehensive exams will be held on March 24 and 25 in the Star City

Saturday, January 23, 2021

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Comprehensive exams of the main and stand-by crews of the eleventh expedition to the International Space Station will be held on March 24 and 25 in the Star City, RIA Novosti learnt on Wednesday from the representative of the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center. He said that, in the presence of the examination commission, the crews, closed in simulators, will demonstrate their knowledge and skills in pre-launch preparations of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft, orbital maneuvers, manual docking with the ISS, undocking and landing of the descent module. The crews will have to take the "space examinations" in handling different emergency situations. Having passed the exams, they will get marks and recommendations for "errors correction". After that, the interdepartmental commission will approve the makeup of the main and the stand-by crews. The decision of experts will be made known on March 29 at the pre-flight press conference of the cosmonauts, where space-research specialists and pressmen are usually invited. Start-off of the 11th expedition to the ISS is scheduled for April 15 from the Baikonur cosmodrome. Russian Sergei Krikalev and American John Phillips are expected to be in the main crew. They will be accompanied by astronaut Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency. It will be his second weeklong orbital mission. The new crew will replace in the ISS Salizhan Sharipov and Leroy Chiao, who have stayed in the station for the appointed six months. Roberto Vittori will be in their company returning to Earth.