Behind the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 42/43 prime and backup crewmembers pose for pictures Nov. 18 as they near the end of pre-flight training. From left to right are backup crewmember Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), prime crewmembers Terry Virts of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, and backup crewmembers Kjell Lindgren of NASA and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Virts, Cristoforetti and Shkaplerov will launch Nov. 24, Kazakh time, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft for a 5 ½ month mission on the International Space Station.
NASA/Sergei Fyodorov
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