Launch of New Space Station Crew Set

MOSCOW – The new crew of the international space station will head into space on Oct. 14, Russia said Friday, after two delays pushed back the launch.

The Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft will carry Russian cosmonauts Salizhan Sharipov and Yuri Shargin and U.S. astronaut Leroy Chiao. They were originally scheduled to launch on Oct. 9, but that date was scrapped after uncovering a problem with the ship’s docking system.

Sharipov and Chiao are to replace Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and U.S. astronaut Mike Fincke, who are winding down a six-month mission on the orbiting station and are to come back to Earth with Shargin on Oct. 24, Federal Space Agency spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko said.

Davidenko has said that the glitch that had prompted the first launch delay was connected to the premature detonation of one of the explosive bolts used to separate the ship’s various components. He refused to comment on the malfunction that caused space officials to further delay the launch earlier this week.

Russian Soyuz spacecraft and Progress cargo ships have provided the only link with the 16-nation space station since the United States grounded its shuttle fleet after Columbia broke apart over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.