Expedition 39 Preflight

Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, receives the traditional blessing from a Russian Orthodox priest at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to his launch on the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, Tuesday, March 25, 2014, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Skvortsov, Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos will spend six months living and working aboard the ISS. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)