Cosmonaut candidates finished one of the training stage passing the tests in soundproof chamber. In the course of this training mental stability of the cosmonaut candidates under the conditions of isolation with regulated continuous activity was tested.

Main and back-up crews of ISS-40/41 mission started passing exams. After examination session the cosmonauts and astronauts will have examinational trainings concluding their preflight preparations in Star City.

Roscosmos Head Councellor, Hero of Russian Federation, cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov was officially appointed to the position of GCTC acting head

New ISS mission crew leaving for the station on March 26 carried out demonstrational training on Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft for the journalists.

The day of March 15 started with flag-raising ceremony that has become a longstanding tradition symbolizing formal beginning of final stage of preflight preparation trainings. Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev raised the flag of Russia while NASA astronauts Stephen Swanson and Barry Wilmore – the flag of USA and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyayev and Elena Serova – the flag of Kazakhstan.

Satellite robots making photos of the ISS outer surface could be of great help for the cosmonauts at the first stages than android robot developed by one of the space industry enterprises, - cosmonaut Oleg Kotov said, who returned from the spaceflight this Tuesday.

Today Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre saw formal farewell ceremony of main and back-up crews of ISS-39/40 mission leaving for Baikonur spaceport for further preflight trainings.

Soyuz TMA-10M crew will take part in field test just after the landing

During previous 2 weeks cosmonauts and astronauts have been passing exams on manual docking, approaching and descending of Soyuz TMA-M spacecraft and practiced manual remote control mode. According to the program for space flight preparations main and back-up crews have to experience standard flight day.

British singer Sarah Brightman will fly to the ISS in autumn 2015 as a space tourist. She starts training in Russian GCTC not later than half a year before the launch of Soyuz TMA-18M.