André Kuipers during a training session at GCTC

André Kuipers during a Soyuz TMA spacecraft training session at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, in Russia, in August 2011.
Each crew members needs to be capable of reacting correctly and expeditiously to emergency situations. These situations are rehearsed over and over again during the training and include crew responses to fire, depressurisation and to toxic atmosphere.
Kuipers, Dutch national and a member of the European Astronaut Corps, will fly to the International Space Station (ISS Expeditions 30 and 31) for a long-duration mission in 2011.