Indiana native preparing to command space station

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An astronaut from Indiana is in Russia getting ready to become commander of the International Space Station.

Kevin Ford is scheduled to launch on a Russian Soyuz capsule with two Russian cosmonauts to the space station on Oct. 23 and remain in orbit until March. The 52-year-old who grew up in Montpelier, Ind., will spend much of that time as commander of the space station's six-person crew.

Ford tells WIBC-FM that the crew has undergone much training on science projects dealing with fluid dynamics, combustion and medicine.

This will be Ford's second space flight as he was the space shuttle Discovery's pilot for a 2009 space station mission.

The former Air Force colonel is a graduate of Blackford High School and the University of Notre Dame.