On September 3, 2014 ISS main and back-up crews started complex examination trainings in GCTC.

The back-up crew comprising Roscosmos cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly was the first to start the training on Soyuz TMA-M spacecraft simulator. This crew will go to the ISS in half a year, Korniyenko and Kelly will stay onboard the ISS for a year while Padalka during his half-a-year flight will set a new total time in space record (about 900 days) beating other Russian cosmonaut’s Sergey Krikalyov record.

Crew commander reported to the State Commission including GCTC, RSC Energia and NASA representatives about the readiness for the training and got the card. Then the cosmonauts took their seats in Soyuz simulator and the exam began.

After the back-up crew the main crew including Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyayev and Elena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore started passing examinational training on Russian ISS segment.

The cosmonauts also paid attention to the Mass Media answering the journalists’ questions.

Tomorrow, on September 4, the main crew will pass exams on Soyuz simulator and the back-up crew – on Russian ISS segment,

The launch of Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft from Baikonur spaceport is scheduled for September 26.