Article Posted on : - Nov 29, 2010

Soyuz in orbit. A file photo

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia’s Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, carrying three astronauts, will begin its International Space Station (ISS) journey on December 15.

The spacecraft will take Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, US astronaut Cady Coleman and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli to the orbital station where they will join the Expedition 26 team present there since October this year.

The Soyuz is scheduled to blast off from the Kazakhstan Cosmodrome on December 15. The spacecraft will take New Year gifts to the space station.

“We are taking New Year presents along, which our families have prepared for us. We don't know what's in them, it will be a surprise,” cosmonaut Kondratyev was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. However, the gift will not include any Christmas tree, Kondratyev added.

The trio will stay in space for 151 days.