NASA and its international partners have assigned two crew members to the Expedition 20 International Space Station mission.

NASA astronaut Timothy J. Creamer, a colonel in the U.S. Army, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi will launch on a Soyuz spacecraft in November 2009. Creamer will be making his first trip to space.

Creamer and Noguchi will join the Expedition 20 mission in progress and remain aboard the space station for six months as flight engineers. Creamer also will serve as a NASA science officer. Other members of the Expedition 20 crew have yet to be named. Expedition 20 will continue assembly of the station as well as outfit the orbiting complex with spare parts and supplies.

The amateur radio gear on the ISS is scheduled to be powered off to support docking operations of 29P on Friday, May 16.

Kenneth - N5VHO