Exams passed

Exam room during simulation exam. Credits: NASA

Andreas, Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov passed their last exam yesterday, making them fit to fly. On Thursday the trio passed their International Space Station exam at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre near Moscow, Russia. The next day they did their Soyuz spacecraft exam. Having passed both, they are now fully-qualified to travel to the International Space Station on a Soyuz.

End of Space Station exam. Credits: ESA

The exams are simulations whereby problems are thrown into the mix on purpose to test the astronauts’ reaction. The Soyuz exam was a tough one with an engine failure and a fire breaking out, but Andreas, Sergei and Aidyn handled these events well.

They will visit the Red Square on Monday for a traditional ceremony before leaving to Baikonur later this week.