Crew set for space station mission

28 May 2013 Last updated at 06:57 ET

Three new crew members are set to launch to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Soyuz carrying Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano is expected to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 02:31 local time on Wednesday (20:31 GMT Tuesday).

Georgian Yurchikhin and American Nyberg have both been into space before.

Italian Parmitano is a first-timer, and at 36 is the youngest person to be given a long-duration ISS assignment.

He is also the European Space Agency's (Esa) newest astronaut, having been selected for training just four years ago.

The former fighter pilot will stay on the station with Yurchikhin and Nyberg until November.

Their mission has the designation of Expedition 36. They will join three individuals already at the ISS - Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, and American Chris Cassidy.

Tuesday's flight will be only the second accelerated rendezvous with the orbiting platform.

Traditionally, Soyuz capsules have taken two days to get to the 415km-high ISS.

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Crew set for space station mission