Astronaut Michael Fincke's long wait to go into space may have gotten a bit shorter.

The Emsworth native was slated to fly to the International Space Station in October, but the Space.com Web site reported last week that he and Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka are now tentatively scheduled for launch to the station on April 19.

Russian space authorities said the two astronauts originally scheduled for the six-month mission, formally known as Expedition Nine, developed "psychological incompatibility" and will be replaced by the Expedition Ten crew, Fincke and Padalka. NASA officials told Space.com that the U.S. space agency was not aware of the switch.

First Published: February 9, 2004, 5:00 a.m.