Soyuz MS-29 crew cleared for preflight preparations in Baikonur - Russian Cosmonaut Training Center

MOSCOW. June 23 (Interfax) - An interagency commission has cleared the main crew of the Soyuz MS-28 spaceship and its backups for preflight preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center said on Tuesday.

"The commission has concluded that the main crew of the 75th expedition to the International Space Stations and its backups are prepared for a space flight onboard the Soyuz MS-29 manned spaceship and work in the ISS' Russian segment," the center said in a statement.

The center said that both crews could begin the final stage of preflight preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The commission consists of representatives of the Cosmonaut Training Center, the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, the Khrunichev Center, Zvezda, the Federal Medical-Biological Agency, and the Institute of Biomedical Problems.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-29 manned spaceship is planned for July 14. Its main crew includes Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina and NASA astronaut Anil Menon. The backups are Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Konstantin Borisov and NASA astronaut Deniz Burnham.

Menon will fly to the ISS under the Russian-U.S. cross-flights agreement.