Michael Hopkins answers questions as he prepare for a series of qualification simulations in Soyuz and Russian trainers.

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 35-36 backup crewmember Michael Hopkins of NASA answers questions from the news media March 4 as he and his crewmates prepare for a series of qualification simulations in Soyuz and Russian segment trainers. Hopkins, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy will backup prime crewmembers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin, who are preparing for launch to the International Space Station March 29 (Kazakh time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft.
NASA / Stephanie Stoll