Published: 31 May, 2009, 09:30
Edited: 31 May, 2009, 09:30
The 20th expedition to the International Space Station blasted off on Wednesday. The new three-man mission has already joined the existing crew to make the biggest-ever permanent team on the ISS.
The latest voyage carried Russian Roman Romanenko, Canadian Bob Thirsk and Belgium’s Frank De Winne.
From now on the crew of the station doubles to six, one step closer into transforming the ISS into a full-scale scientific lab.
During the six-month long tour of duty, astronauts will conduct two spacewalks and carry out several biological and scientific experiments.
There will also be two shuttle visits and for the first time in history the number of people at the station will reach thirteen.
However, unlike recent years, the expanding crew at the ISS may leave no room for space amateurs. Seats on the Soyuz are booked years ahead for professionals only, and starting from 2010, only the Russian spacecraft will be the sole means of reaching the ISS, as NASA’s shuttles will be retired and won’t be replaced until 2014.
Aleksey Krasnov from the Russian Space Agency, said only an additional Soyuz will be allowed to send tourists into space.
“We're working on building a new spaceship, the fifth Soyuz. Only then will there be a possibility to continue to carry amateurs to space, but it could be no sooner than in 2013,” Krasnov said.
The Russian Space Agency also says one lucky space tourist could still make it to the ISS this September. He's now preparing for the flight, but his name and the price he has paid for the pleasure have not been revealed.