科技英语新闻:New space station crews pass preflight tests

MOSCOW, May 13 (Xinhua) -- The main and backup crews that will fly to the International Space Station in June have passed preflight tests and are ready for space travel, the Russian Cosmonauts Training Center said Friday.

The main crew includes Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and American astronaut Michael Fossuma.

A Russian spaceship Soyuz TMA-02M will send the crew to the space station on June 8, Interfax news agency reported.

The backup crew includes members from Russia, the Netherlands and the United States.

The crews were tested on the various emergency situations they could face during the flight.

Next Monday, the commission will make a final choice of crewmembers for the launch.

The crew will spend 161 days in orbit and conduct three space walks.