Expedition 39/40 backup crewmembers clasp hands at the start of the first day 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) clasp hands at the start of the first day of qualification exams March 4. The prime crew – Steve Swanson of NASA and Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are preparing to launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 26, Kazakh time, in their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft for a six-month mission.

NASA/Stephanie Stoll