Frank De Winne Poised to Become First European ISS Commander; Soyuz To Undock Today
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Frank De Winne of Belgium will become the first non-U.S., non-Russian commander of the International Space Station (ISS) today, October 10, 2009. A change of command ceremony was held yesterday where Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka handed command over to De Winne to lead Expedition 21, but according to NASA the reins officially transfer to De Winne later today when Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barrett, and Canadian spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte undock from ISS to head back to Earth. The undocking is scheduled for 9:07 pm EDT, with landing in Kazakhstan at 12:31 am EDT Sunday.
De Winne will command a six-person crew. The other five astronauts who are now aboard ISS and will remain are: Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Maxim Suraev, and U.S. astronauts Nicole Stott and Jeffrey Williams.
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