Astronaut training at Tsukuba Space Center, Japan

ESA astronauts Frank De Winne and André Kuipers were recently at the Tsukuba Space Center in Japan where they followed training for the Japanese Kibo laboratory and the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV).

De Winne is currently preparing for a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS). In May 2009, De Winne is scheduled fly to the ISS on board a Soyuz spacecraft together with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko. Kuipers is assigned as back-up to De Winne.