New crew to run space station in March

MOSCOW, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A new crew of astronauts, two Russians and one American, will travel to the International Space Station in March, officials said.

The new crew -- Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steve Swanson -- will travel to the station to replace the current three-member crew of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky and NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

The new crew is expected to man the station from March to September. They will travel to the space station in a Russian Soyuz rocket, the lone means to reach the station since NASA halted its space shuttle program.