Russia boarded a flight to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final pre-launch training.

With the statue of Vladimir Lenin nearby, the Expedition 42/43 backup and prime crewmembers pose for pictures Nov. 11 at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia before the prime crew boarded a flight to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final pre-launch training. From left to right are backup crewmembers Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and prime crewmembers Terry Virts of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, who will launch Nov. 24, Kazakh time from Baikonur in their Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft for a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station.

NASA/Stephanie Stoll