STAR CITY (Moscow Region), September 18 (RIA Novosti) - Members of the International Space Station Expedition 18 have successfully passed their first pre-flight tests, a spokesman for Russia's Cosmonaut Training Center said Thursday.
A Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft carrying commander Mike Fincke, flight engineer Yuri Lonchakov and space tourist Richard Garriott is scheduled to launch in October from the Baikonur Space Center.
Lonchakov and Fincke have successfully completed all five tasks they have been assigned, including extinguishing a blaze onboard the ISS simulator. They also repaired a laptop, a VHF receiver and the oxygen generation system, and rendered first aid to an injured person.
On Friday, the two astronauts will undergo a test on a simulator of the Soyuz TMA spacecraft.
Garriott, who as a space tourist has his own preparation schedule, has also passed his tests.
