Three astronauts will blast off for the International Space Station (ISS) on April 19

Three astronauts will blast off for the International Space Station (ISS) on April 19, two of them to replace the team which has been there since last October, officials at the Russian space agency said Wednesday. Russian Gennady Padalka and American Mikhael Fincke will replace Alexei Kalery and Michael Foale, and will spend six months at the station, officials said. Dutchman Andre Kuipers, a 45-year-old astronaut with the European Space Agency, will spend less than two weeks at the station. He is due to return to earth with Kalery and Foale on April 30. The trio recently completed preparations for the mission at Star City, an astronaut training center outside the Russian capital Moscow.