Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano will go to the ISS on Soyuz MS-20
BAIKONUR COSMODROME /Kazakhstan/, December 5. /tass/. The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft is installed on the launch pad No. 31 ("Vostok") of the Baikonur cosmodrome, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.
Now the specialists will have to reduce the maintenance farms, after which work will begin according to the schedule of the first starting day.
On the Soyuz MS-20, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, who will become the first special correspondent of TASS in orbit, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his business assistant Yozo Hirano are to go to the ISS. By tradition, members of the backup crew of the manned spacecraft, which includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov and space tourist Xiong Ogiso, came to observe the removal of the carrier from the assembly and test building.
The launch of the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft to the ISS with two space tourists is scheduled for December 8. The duration of the flight will be 12 days. Cosmonaut Misurkin will manage the Soyuz MS-20.
TASS and Roscosmos signed a memorandum of cooperation on November 17, which implies the creation of an agency office on the International Space Station. The first correspondent of TASS in orbit will be the Hero of Russia cosmonaut of Roscosmos Alexander Misurkin. He will talk about life and work at the station. It will be possible to read his news, as well as to view photos and videos on the agency's information resources.