Expedition 9 Preflight

Seated from left to right, NASA Expedition 9 backup Commander Leroy Chiao, backup Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, backup European Space Agency astronaut Gerhard Thiele of Germany, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer Mike Fincke, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands meet with launch authoritites, press and family one last time prior to departing for the launch pad where they were launched on board a Soyuz TMA-4 vehicle, Monday, April 19, 2004 to the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)