MOSCOW. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The November flight of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery will delay the return of Russian and U.S. astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) for a few days, an aerospace industry representative told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
"The Discovery was due to take off in late October, but the launch was postponed until early November that slightly delayed the spacewalks of Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka. The delayed spacewalks postponed the landing of the Soyuz TMA-19, which would bring Yurchikhin home," he said.
Hence, the Soyuz TMA-19 will touch down on November 30 instead of November 26.
The launch of the Soyuz TMA-20 spaceship will also be postponed for four days, from December 10 to December 14, in order to keep the two-week space between the departure of the current crew of the ISS and the arrival of new crewmembers.
The Discovery will be carrying six NASA astronauts: Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Tim Kopra and Nicole Stott.
The space shuttle will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 4 and provide critical spare components to the International Space Station. This will be the 35th shuttle mission to the station.
Soyuz TMA-19 will give a lift home to Yurchikhin and NASA's Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock after a 167-day mission.
Soyuz TMA-20 will transport Russia's Dmitry Kondratyev, Italian Paolo Nespoli and American Catherine Coleman.
The ISS has an international crew of Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov (commander), Mikhail Korniyenko and Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Walker and Wheelock.