The International Space Station's two-man crew will return to earth on April 30, a day later than planned, Russia's mission control said on Thursday.
“Their program has been extended and they need more time in orbit,” a Russian mission control spokesman said. “They will return on April 30, not April 29.”
The extra day would give Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri and his U.S. commander Michael Foale more time for a handover to the new crew and allow guest astronaut Andre Kuipers another day to conduct his scientific work, said NASA spokesman Rob Navias.
Kuipers, a Dutch astronaut with the European Space Agency, will fly up with new crewmembers Mike Fincke of the United States and Gennady Padalka of Russia on April 19, then return to Earth with Foale and Kaleri, Navias said.
Foale and Kaleri have been in orbit since Oct. 18, when they blasted off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome by Soyuz rocket -- the only vehicle that can carry crews to the ISS since Washington grounded its space fleet after the Columbia shuttle disintegrated on re-entry last year.
The ISS is funded by 16 nations, which agreed to jointly build the orbiting space station in 1998.