Russians celebrate Cosmonaut Day on April 12, the day Soviet hero Yury Gagarin became the first man in space, in 1961.Yi, Volkov and Kononenko will be blasting off from the same launch pad as Gagarin.

• 韩国一名航天官员说，李素妍此次12天的太空之旅将耗资2000万美元(合1280万欧元)，并表示希望此行能进一步推动韩国载人航天事业的发展。