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Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft crews confirmed

The State Commission for Test Flights of Crewed Space Complexes has confirmed the composition of the Soyuz MS-18 crewed spacecraft prime and backup crews. At the same time, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle and ground infrastructure was cleared for the upcoming launch under the Russian program of the International Space Station.

The 65th long-term expedition prime crew includes Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky (Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft and ISS-65 commander), Pyotr Dubrov (Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft and ISS-65 flight engineer-1) and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei (Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft and ISS-65 flight engineer-2). Their backups are Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Anne McClain, respectively.

At 10:00 UTC, the prelaunch crews’ online conference will take place available live on the official websites of Roscosmos and TASS news agency.

Prime crew From left to right: Mark Vande Hei, Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov	Backup crew From left to right: Anne McClain, Anton Shkaplerov and Oleg Artemyev