Posted: Fri, Feb 6, 2004, 9:15 PM ET (0215 GMT)
NASA confirmed Friday that it was switching the order of the next two crews to stay on the International Space Station, confirming Russian reports from earlier this week. Michael Fincke and Gennady Padalka, who were scheduled to fly to the station this fall as the Expedition 10 crew, will instead be the Expedition 9 crew, scheduled for launch in mid-April. Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov will instead serve as the Expedition 10 crew. The move is the latest shakeup in the ISS crew rotation, dating back to a decision in January to replace William McArthur with Chiao on the Expedition 9 crew after McArthur was medically disqualified to fly. Chiao was to fly with Valery Tokarev, but Russian reports earlier this week said that a "psychological incompatibility" between the two led ISS managers to switch the order of the crews. In a statement, NASA would only say that "it was optimal to keep teams together" for the explanation of swapping the two crews as well replacing Tokarev with Sharipov, who, like Chiao, was the original backup crew for Expedition 9.

Related Links:

•  AP article
•  NASA press release