ISS to Go to Six-Member Crew May 29

Expedition 20/Soyuz TMA-15 crew Bob Thirsk, Romanenko, and De Winne.

The International Space Station will expand to a six-member crew on May 29 following the launch of the Soyuz TMA-15 following a NASA televised May 27 launch from the from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:34 a.m. EDT, May 27, 2009.

Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne (Belgium), and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk will join Russian Commander Gennady Padalka, NASA astronaut Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to form the first six-person space station crew with five of them from different space station partner nations.