New expedition launches work at International Space StationDecember 22, 2012 - 14:58 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Participants of the International Space Station’s Expedition 34 began their work on the station after their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft docked with the ISS on Friday, December 21 night, RIA Novosti said. Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, and US astronaut Thomas Marshburn entered the station after the hatches between the Soyuz spacecraft and the Rassvet module opened at 20:37 Moscow time (16:37 GMT) on Friday. The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Wednesday and spent two days in orbit before docking with the ISS. The new crew will perform two spacewalks under the Russian and US space programs. During their 147-day mission, the new ISS crew members will also take part in docking and unloading six spacecraft: four Russian Progress cargo spacecraft, Europe’s ATV-4 space freighter and US SpX-2 spacecraft. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |