05.09 Russian Cosmonaut Bails Out of Upcoming Spaceflight
MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti) An experienced Russian spaceman set to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015 suddenly tendered his resignation for unclear reasons, a Russian space industry representative said Thursday.
Yury Lonchakov will be formally discharged from his job on September 14, Irina Rogova of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center told RIA Novosti.
Rogovas boss, Sergei Krikalev, was cited by Russian media as saying that Lonchakov found a more interesting job, but did not elaborate. Rogova could not name Lonchakovs new job.
No replacement was announced for the spaceman, who was set to fly to the ISS as the commander of Expedition 44 in May 2015 along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. The backup crew comprises Russian Oleg Kononenko, Japanese native Kimiya Yui and NASA representative Kjell N. Lindgren.
