Expedition 38 Prelaunch

Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency waves hello to family members gathered to watch him through glass as he and fellow crew mates, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, have their Russian Sokol suits pressure checked a few hours ahead of their launch, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Wakata, and, Mastracchio will launch in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)