The prime crewmembers who will round out Expedition 30 on the International Space Station answer questions from reporters.

In the pre-dawn hours at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, Russia on Dec. 8, 2011, the prime crewmembers who will round out Expedition 30 on the International Space Station answer questions from reporters prior to their departure for the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. From left to right are NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency. Kononenko, Pettit and Kuipers will launch to the ISS on Dec. 21 in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft.

Credit: NASA