Mascot of a new expedition to the ISS was stuffed duckling.

April 2 at 8:00 am Moscow time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome launched the spacecraft "Soyuz", which will take the crew of a new expedition to the International Space Station.

on board the Soyuz TMA-18 "are the commander of ISS Expedition 24 Alexander Skvortsov, the first" space police "Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

docking of the Soyuz TMA-18 docked to the ISS will be held on April 4. The duration of the expedition will be 167 days. Astronauts will provide articulation and razgruku three cargo spacecraft Progress, and three shuttles, and twice come out into open space. In addition, in May, the ISS will be delivered to a new Russian module of the "Dawn". Re-entry capsule of the Soyuz TMA-18 "is scheduled for September 16.

for Russian cosmonaut was the first flight, astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson flew a second time.

Its first flight to the ISS in August 2007 on the shuttle Endeavour. When flying into space, each crew member can take on board not more than one kilogram of personal belongings. Tracy Caldwell Dyson had brought to the station a few small photos, posters and commemorative pictures. Alexander Skvortsov took with him a yellow plush duck, which gave him a daughter. Flight engineer Mikhail Kornienko - pennant MIA. Team mascot was a small yellow stuffed duck.