The first resident crew of the International Space Station is scheduled to lift off at 2:53 a.m. E.S.T. Tuesday in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The first crew to live aboard the International Space Station includes U.S. Astronaut Bill Shepherd, who will serve as station commander, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev. NPR's Joe Palca says the crew will spend four months on the station, checking out equipment, and helping to install new station parts that were delivered by the space shuttle.
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