Expedition 9 Preflight Activities

Backup Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, left, Expedition 9 backup Commander Leroy Chiao, center and backup European Space Agency astronaut Gerhard Thiele of Germany talk with Valery Korzun, right, Chief of Cosmonauts, Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center after the backup crew finished its final fit check in the Soyuz capsule at building 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Wednesday, April 14, 2004, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)