Expedition 18 Launch Day

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke waves goodbye to family and friends from the bus that will take him and fellow crew members Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott to the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft for launch, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three crew members are scheduled to dock with the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)