Expedition 30 Flight Engineer Don Pettit flashes a smile as he boards the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft before launch.

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 30 Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA flashes a smile as he boards the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft in its integration facility December 16, 2011 as part of the final check out of the vehicle before launch. Pettit, Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko will launch on Dec. 21 from Baikonur bound for the International Space Station to begin a five and a half month mission.

Credit: NASA