Expedition 39/40 backup crewmembers Barry Wilmore as they prepare to conduct the first of two days of qualification exams.

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 39/40 backup crewmembers Barry Wilmore of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of Roscosmos (center) and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos (right) report to Russian space officials March 4 as they prepare to conduct the first of two days of qualification exams. The prime crew – Steve Swanson of NASA and Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station on March 26, Kazakh time, on their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft for a six-month mission.

NASA/Stephanie Stoll