The head of Roscosmos Vladimir Popovkin spend time with the Expedition 30/31 prime crewmembers.

At the headquarters of the Russian Federal Space Agency, the head of Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin (far left) and other Russian space officials spend time with the Expedition 30/31 prime crewmembers Dec. 6, 2011 prior to their departure Dec. 8 for their launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. On the right from top to bottom are Joel Montalbano, NASA’s Head of Human Spaceflight Programs in Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko. Pettit, Kuipers and Kononenko will launch to the International Space Station Dec. 21 in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft.

Credit: NASA