Ninth Iss Mission Will Be Launched On April 19

MOSCOW. April 13 (Interfax) – The ninth International Space Station (ISS) mission will be launched on April 19 as planned, Control Mission spokesman Valery Lyndin told Interfax on Tuesday.

“The date for the mission’s launch has not been changed. The Soyuz spaceship will take off at 7:19 a.m. Moscow time on April 19. It was considered earlier to postpone the launch date because the mission of Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers had been extended. However, instead of postponing the launch date, we decided to postpone the date for the eighth ISS mission’s landing, which is now scheduled for April 30,” Lyndin said.

Both crews will now stay together aboard the ISS one day longer. During this time, the crews will help Kuipers conduct experiments under a European program.

The ninth ISS mission includes Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA astronaut Michael Fincke.