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OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
about the decision of the Council of Chief Designers
on the preaprations for the launch of Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft

April 14, 2003. Korolev, Moscow Region.
The meeting of the Council of Chief Designers for the Russian Segment
of the International Space Station (ISS RS), held at S.P.Korolev
Rocket and Space Corporation Energia under direction of the Chairman
of the Council of Chief Designers, Technical director of the Russian
manned space programs, Designer General, member of the Rusian Academy
of Sciences Yu.P.Semenov, addressed the readiness for the next step
in the ISS program. 

The results of the ISS man-tended mission over the period from
November 2002 till present (completion of the Expedition Five ISS-5
mission, Expedition Six ISS-6 mission), the status of the space
station and the first modernized manned transportation spacecraft
Soyuz TMA-1, preparations for the launch of Soyuz TMA-2 were reported
by Yu.I.Grigoriev, deputy designer general of S.P.Korolev RSC
Energia.

Also heard were the final reports from chief designers, authorized
representatives of developers and manufacturers on the readiness for
the launch of the manned spacecraft and ISS status as a whole.

Reports and communications on the readiness of the Expedition Seven
ISS-7 crew, on the health status of cosmonauts and astronauts of
ISS-6 and ISS-7 crews, ISS mission progress and the readiness of the
mission control documentation, personnel of the Lead Operations
Control Team (LOCT) and the crews for the Soyuz TMA-2 docking were
presented by the head of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
Colonel-General P.I.Klimuk, deputy director of the Institute for
Medical and Biological Problems V.V.Bogomolov, LOCT director
cosmonaut V.A.Soloviev. 

The primary crew of ISS-7 to be launched to ISS on Soyuz TMA-2 is
training for the mission and consists of a Russian cosmonaut Yuri
Malenchenko (commander) and US astronaut Edward Lu (flight engineer).
The TsNIIMash report on the Soyuz TMA-2 launch readiness was
presented by the deputy director of that institute A.T.Goryachenkov.

The Council of Chief Designers having reviewed the ISS status, the
readiness of the Soyuz TMA-2 manned spacecraft, the progress of
Soyuz-FG launch vehicle processing, the readiness of the personnel of
the Russian and US ground facilities for the mission preparation and
control, ISS-6 and ISS-7 crews readiness for carrying out the space
station and spacecraft mission program, as well as taking into
account positive final reports on the spacecraft and ISS readiness as
a whole, have made a decision to approve the following:

the results of the ISS mission phase covering the period from
November 2002 to April 2003, including the implementation of
Visiting ("Taxi") Mission Four;

the results of tests and the plan of upcoming work on the launch
preparation of the Soyuz TMA-2 which is to replace on ISS the Soyuz
TMA-1 and to implement the two-men 185-days mission of ISS-7;

research and experiments program for the ISS-7 mission phase;

ISS flight program for the year 2003, including launches, before the
year's end, of two logistics vehicle Progress M1, one Progress M, and
manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-3.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Russian Aviation
and Space Agency, NASA, European Space Agency, companies and
organizations in the industry, that participate in the implementation
of the ISS project. The launch of Soyuz TMA-2 is scheduled for April
26, 2003 at 7 hours 53 minutes, Moscow daylight saving time.

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