MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax-AVN) - An interdepartmental qualification commission may admit new members to the Russian astronaut unit on Friday, the Cosmonaut Training Center told Interfax-AVN.
"Seven candidates for the astronaut researcher position passed the state exam on July 31. The interdepartmental qualification commission will make a decision on August 3 to grant them the [astronaut researcher] rank and to admit them to the astronaut unit," it said.
Most probably, all the seven candidates will be admitted.
The interdepartmental commission for astronauts' recruitment formed groups of candidates for training at the Cosmonaut Training Center on April 26, 2010, and on October 12, 2010. The group is made up of Andrei Khomenchuk, Sergei Prokopyev, Andrei Babkin, Ivan Vagner, Denis Matveyev, Svyatoslav Morozov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov.