ZVYOZDNY GORODOK (Sputnik) — The training center also confirmed the flight readiness of the backup crew.
"The commission recommended the prime crew of Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft, including Roscosmos' cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Denisenko and NASA astronaut Robert Shane, for preflight training at Baykonur Cosmodrome," the training center's press service told journalists.
According to the training center, a governmental commission will approve the final list of crew members several days before the launch of the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft, scheduled for September 23.
The crew is set to carry out more than 50 research experiments on the station and to work on Russia's Progress MS, US Dragon and Japan's HTV cargo ships. The crew is expected to stay on the station for 155 days.
