Koichi Wakata takes a turn at Ping-Pong Nov. 1 at the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur Kazakhstan.

With backup crewmember Reid Wiseman (right) of NASA looking on, prime Expedition 38/39 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (left) takes a turn at Ping-Pong Nov. 1 at the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. In the far background in the blue flight suit, backup crewmember Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency waits his turn at the billiards table. Wakata, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA are preparing for launch Nov. 7, Kazakh time, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to begin a six-month mission on the International Space Station.

NASA/Victor Zelentsov