October 17, 2003. Baikonur Cosmodrome.

A meeting of the State commission was held where the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft and ISS-8 expedition and backup crews were approved and also a decision was adopted to continue preparation of the Rocket and Space Complex for filling and launch at the prescribed time.
Expedition crew: spacecraft commander, ISS-8 flight engineer - pilot cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, S.P. Korolev RSC Energia instructor - test cosmonaut Aleksandr Yurievich Kaleri; ISS-8 commander, spacecraft flight engineer-2 - Dr. Colin Michael Foale, NASA astronaut; spacecraft flight enginer-1, ISS visiting crew flight engineer Pedro Duque, ESA astronaut, Spain.
Backup crew: spacecraft commander, ISS-8 flight engineer - pilot cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, test cosmonaut of Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Air Force Colonel Valery Ivanovich Tokarev; ISS-8 commander, spacecraft flight engineer-2 William Surles McArthur, NASA astronaut; spacecraft flight engineer-1, ISS visiting crew flight engineer Andre Kuipers, the Dutch astronaut, ESA.