A new Soyuz capsule will be launched into space next week on 30 October at 08:11 local time (04:11 CET) from the cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, carrying the European Space Agency’s first Belgian astronaut to visit the International Space Station and two Russian crew members.
Frank De Winne, a former Belgian Air Force pilot and now a member of ESA’s 16-strong astronaut corps, follows in the footsteps of a series of European astronauts who have already visited and worked on board the Space Station.

A prime task of the 11-day Odissea mission is to replace the TM-34 Soyuz vehicle currently attached to the Space Station with the new TMA-1 spacecraft, ensuring that the craft that would be used to evacuate the Station’s resident crew in an emergency is always in top condition.

De Winne will play his part as a Soyuz Flight Engineer in the test flight of the new Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft, alongside Soyuz Mission Commander Sergei Zaletin and Soyuz Flight Engineer Yuri Valentinovich Lonchakov.
Two days after launch the Soyuz TMA-1 with De Winne, Zaletin and Lonchakov will approach and dock with the orbiting complex some 400 km above the Earth.
De Winne, whose flight is sponsored by the Belgian Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs (OSTC), will become the fourth European astronaut to visit the International Space Station and the first European astronaut to work in both the Russian and American segments of the Space Station.

During his eight- [nine - depending on the finally set launch and landing dates] day stay on board the Space Station, De Winne will carry out a programme of 23 experiments in the fields of life and physical sciences, and education, including four in a new research facility - the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) - an important piece of hardware designed and developed in Europe.