Space crew take control

Yuri Onufrienko (bottom left) takes over

The outgoing crew of the International Space Station (ISS) has formally handed over command of the platform to its replacement.

Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov expect to leave the ISS aboard the shuttle Endeavour on Saturday and arrive back on Earth on Monday.

"We've been doing many things to ensure the station is ready for the next crew while conducting our business, conducting our research and doing our assigned tasks," said Expedition Three commander Culbertson. "The ship is now your responsibility."

He presented his replacement, the Expedition Four commander Yuri Onufrienko, with the ship's log and firmly grasped his right hand.

The ceremony, which took place at 2004 GMT on Thursday, is based on the traditions of the high seas, and is the customary one held each time a crew rotates.

Ukrainian-born Yuri Onufrienko and US astronauts Carl Walz and Dan Bursch will stay on the ISS until May 2002.

They will help attach the first piece of a truss that will become the station's backbone. The space shuttle Atlantis is due to deliver the part at the end of February.

And if all goes to plan, they are likely to meet the world's second space tourist, South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth.

Mr Shuttleworth is reported to have paid $20m (£14m) to visit the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz supply mission in April.