Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov said the arrival of German Thomas Reiter in May would complete the "international team" of astronauts.

"We will look forward to the arrival of the American space shuttle. Our space station needs three people if it is to work properly," Vinogradov told a press conference held in Star City, near Moscow.

"When Thomas Reiter arrives we will be an international team reuniting Russia, the United States and Europe."

The German astronaut is scheduled to arrive in May, when he will become the first European to embark on a long (six-month) mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Until now, only Russian and American astronauts have gone on long missions on board the station.

Europeans have only completed 12-day flights to replace equipment aboard the station.

Vinogradov and Williams leave for the ISS with the leading Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes on March 30 on board the Russian space ship Soyuz. Pontes will return to earth on April 9 with the equipment from the previous mission.

NASA announced early March that its next flight would be in May. The agency grounded its space shuttle eight months ago, following its first flight since the Columbia disaster in 2003.

Since that disaster the permanent crew on board the ISS has been limited to two astronauts: one Russian and one American. Previously, crews had been three-strong, made up of either one American and two Russians or two Russians and one American.

Reiter, 47, is an astronaut with the European Space Agency and has already flown with Russian cosmonauts. He spent 179 days on board the Mir space station between September 3 1995 and February 29 1996.

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