Expedition 11 Soyuz Inspection

Russian space officials, along with Expediton 11 crew members Commander Sergei Krikalev, Flight Engineer John Phillips and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori discuss the checkout of the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft during preparations for launch, Sunday, April 10, 2005, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Krikalev, Phillips and Vittori will launch April 15 on the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft to the International Space Station. Krikalev and Phillips will spend six months in space and greet the first Shuttle crew to fly in more than two years when it arrives at the station, while Vittori spends eight days on the station under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)