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[b]Soyuz TMA-02M launches to the space station[/b] Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, NASA astronaut Mike Fossum and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the International Space Station onboard the Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft at 3:12 p.m. CDT Tuesday, June 7 (2:12 a.m. Wednesday, June 8 Baikonur time). Under Volkov's command, Soyuz TMA-02M will dock to the [i]Rassvet[/i] module on the Earth-facing side of the station on Thursday, June 9. After opening the hatches between the Soyuz and station, the trio will be welcomed aboard by their Expedition 28 crewmates, commander Andrey Borisenko and flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Ron Garan, who have been living and working on the station since April 6. The six-person crew will extend the continuous presence of humans on the station since Nov. 2, 2000, conducting scientific research and station maintenance activities. The station residents also will welcome the crew of the last space shuttle flight, Atlantis' STS-135 mission, targeted to launch July 8. The shuttle will deliver critical supplies in the Italian-built [i]Raffaello[/i] multi-purpose logistics module and support spacewalks by Fossum and Garan to retrieve a failed cooling system pump module, which Atlantis will return to Earth for analysis. Garan, Borisenko and Samokutyaev, who launched to the station April 4, will return to Earth in September. Before departing, Borisenko will hand over command of the station to Fossum for Expedition 29, which begins when Soyuz TMA-21 undocks. Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin and astronaut Dan Burbank will join Fossum, Volkov and Furukawa to complete the Expedition 29 crew in September.
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