The three crewmembers are greeted by Russian space officials upon their arrival in Baikonur Kazakhstan Dec. 8, 2011 for final pre-launch preparations.

The three crewmembers who will round out the Expedition 30 crew on the International Space Station are greeted by Russian space officials upon their arrival in Baikonur, Kazakhstan Dec. 8, 2011 for final pre-launch preparations. Included in the group are NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit (third from the left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko (fourth from the left) and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency (fifth from the right). Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers will launch to the station on Dec. 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft.

Courtesy: NASA