On February 26, 2019 the main and the backup crews of the crew transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-12 arrived at the Baikonur launch site to complete their preparation for the mission. They were met at the airfield by members of the Technical Management and the State Commission.

The main crew of ISS-59/60 consists of a Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch. Their backups are a Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Skvortsov, an ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, and a NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan.

Commanders of the crews reported on their readiness for preflight training and acceptance of Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft.

Having made their report to the management the crews set off for the Test and Training Complex of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where they are to attend pre-flight training sessions, lessons and briefings. The cosmonauts and astronauts will also have daily physical training sessions and medical checkups.

Tomorrow, February 27, cosmonauts and astronauts will have a first training session inside the spacecraft, the “first fit check”. The crews will practice on-the-spot responses inside their spacecraft, familiarize themselves with onboard documentation and run a number of tests on onboard systems.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-12 on the launch vehicle Soyuz-FG is scheduled for March 14, 2019 from the Baikonur launch site.