Two astronauts are assigned to the ISS

WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency and its international partners say they have assigned two crew members to the Expedition 20 International Space Station mission.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut Timothy Creamer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi will travel on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in November 2009. Creamer, a U.S. Army colonel, 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. Other members of the Expedition 20 crew have yet to be selected.

The Expedition 20 crew will continue assembly of the station as well as outfitting the orbiting complex with spare parts and supplies.

Crew members named as backups are NASA astronaut and Army Col. Douglas Wheelock, and JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.