Rick Mastracchio poses for pictures after planting a tree in his name in a ceremonial pre-flight tradition.

Behind the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 38/39 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA poses for pictures Nov. 1 after planting a tree in his name Nov. 1 in a ceremonial pre-flight tradition. Mastracchio, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin are preparing for their 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