Expedition 38/39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin answers questions from reporters.

With the statue of Vladimir Lenin serving as a backdrop, Expedition 38/39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin (center) answers questions from reporters October 26 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia as his crewmates, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (left) and NASA Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio (right) look on. The three crewmembers flew to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after the question and answer session for final preparations for their launch Nov. 7, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to begin a six-month mission on the International Space Station.

NASA/Stephanie Stoll