With the onion dome spires of St. Basil’s Cathedral serving as a backdrop, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (front row, left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (front row, center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (front row, right) lead the way along the Kremlin Wall in Red Square in Moscow to lay flowers Sept. 6 in a traditional ceremony to honor Russian space icons who are interred there. Kotov, Hopkins and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA hands the microphone to an interpreters after answering a question from a reporter at a pre-launch news conference Sept. 6 as his crewmate, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (right) looks on. Along with Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, Hopkins and Kotov are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow, Five of the six Expedition 37/38 prime and backup crewmembers pose for pictures Sept. 6 during the traditional visit to lay flowers at the wall where Russian space icons are interred. With the onion domed spires of St. Basil’s Cathedral in the background, from left to right are backup NASA Flight Engineer Steve Swanson, prime Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, prime Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov, prime Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy and backup Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev. Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA lays flowers Sept. 6 in a traditional ceremony to honor Russian space icons who are interred there. Hopkins, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center) holds up a certificate proclaiming his readiness to launch and his crewmate, Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right) holds up a crew portrait Sept. 6 as NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins (left) looks on. Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy lays flowers Sept. 6 in a traditional ceremony to honor Russian space icons who are interred there. Ryazanskiy, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (second from left) holds a toy cat mascot during a pre-launch news conference Sept. 6 as his crewmates, Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (far left) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (second from the right) look on. Also participating in the news conference was the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Sergei Krikalev (far right). The mascot will be mounted inside the crew’s Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft over Kotov’s head as a “zero-g indicator” once the crew launches. Their launch to the International Space Station is set for Sept. 26, Kazakh time, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right) pose for pictures Sept. 6 during the traditional visit to lay flowers at the wall where Russian space icons are interred. Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right, front row) signs a certification book in a traditional ceremony Sept. 6 as his prime and backup crewmates look on. In the front row are prime crewmates NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins (left) and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center). In the back row are backup crewmembers Steve Swanson of NASA (left), Alexander Skvortsov (center) and Oleg Artemyev (right). Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Kremlin Wall at Red Square in Moscow, Expedition 37/38 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov lays flowers Sept. 6 in a traditional ceremony to honor Russian space icons who are interred there. Kotov, Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (front row, center) signs a certification book in a traditional ceremony Sept. 6 as his prime and backup crewmates look on. In the front row are prime crewmates NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins (left) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right). In the back row are backup crewmembers Steve Swanson of NASA (left), Alexander Skvortsov (center) and Oleg Artemyev (right). Hopkins, Kotov and Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

#3263 - (30 October 2014) --- At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 42/43 backup crewmembers Kjell Lindgren of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos, center) and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (right) pose for pictures in front of a Soyuz simulator October 30 as part of their final qualification exams for flight. They are the backups to the prime crew --- Terry Virts of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency --- who are in the final stages of training for launch November 24, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft to begin a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Stephanie Stoll

On a rainy day at Red Square in Moscow, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA poses for pictures Sept. 6 in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral during a traditional trip to lay flowers at the Kremlin Wall where Russian space icons are interred. In the background is backup crewmember Oleg Artemyev. Hopkins, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (left) signs a certification book in a traditional ceremony Sept. 6 as his Soyuz Commander, Oleg Kotov (right) looks on. Hopkins, Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA answers a question from a reporter at a pre-launch news conference Sept. 6 as his crewmate, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (right) looks on. Along with Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, Hopkins and Kotov are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov (center) and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy (right) hold a replica of the Olympic torch Sept. 6 following a crew news conference at their training facility outside Moscow. The trio is preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. The torch that will light the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia Feb. 7, 2014 will be flown the space station by another crew in November and brought home several days later as part of a global and galactic Olympic relay. NASA/Stephanie Stoll

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 37/38 backup Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA (left) signs a certification book in a traditional ceremony Sept. 6 as his Soyuz Commander, Alexander Skvortsov (center) and backup Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev (right) look on. The trio is serving as backups to the prime crewmembers --- NASA Flight Engineer Michael Hopkins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy, who are preparing for their launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 26, Kazakh time, aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft. NASA/Stephanie Stoll