ESA's 4th long duration flight

Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers is about to make his second and ESA's fourth long-duration mission to the International Space Station.

Lifting off in a Soyuz module from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, he'll be spending six months in orbit as flight engineer.

His roles onboard include performing an intensive series of microgravity experiments and overseeing the docking of ESA's ATV, or Automated Transfer Vehicle, to the station.

More backgroud information can be found on: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/PromISSe/index.html