Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), makes remarks during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz launch of Expedition 41 to the International Space Station, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Sept. 26 and will carry Expedition 41 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA, and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of Roscosmos into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, as seen during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz rocket launch of Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA, and Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos on a six month mission aboard the International Space Station, Monday, March 24, 2014 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, left, and Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, right, shake hands following a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, left, Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, right, are seen during a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, speaks during a joint statement with Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, and Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, following the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The three spoke on the importance of international cooperation in human spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, left, Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, right, are seen during a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The three spoke on the importance of international cooperation in human spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, left, Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, right, are seen during a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The three spoke on the importance of international cooperation in human spaceflight. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, far right, and Russian Federal Space Agency Deputy General-Director Nikolai Moiseev, second from right, answer questions from reporters along with other Russian space officials at a news conference, Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow following the docking of the Expedition 9 crew and a European Space Agency astronaut to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, second from right, and Russian Federal Space Agency Deputy General-Director Nikolai Moiseev, center, answer questions from reporters along with other Russian space officials at a news conference, Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow following the docking of the Expedition 9 crew and a European Space Agency astronaut to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, right, and Nikolai Moiseev, Deputy General-Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, center, share a light-hearted moment at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow, Wednesday, April 21, 2004, following the successful docking of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. The Soyuz brought the new Expedition 9 crew and a European Space Agency researcher to the Station following their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), makes remarks during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz launch of Expedition 42 to the International Space Station, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for Nov. 24 and will carry Expedition 42 Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA , and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency into orbit to begin their five and a half month mission on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, makes remarks during the State Commission meeting held to approve the Soyuz launch of the crew for a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, ESA, and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA will launch about their Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft in the early hours of May 29. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory, left, joins Russian Federal Space Agency Deputy General-Director Nikolai Moiseev, Wednesday, April 21, 2004, at the Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow to view the docking of the Expedition 9 crew to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), right, shakes hands with Expedition 41 Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore of NASA, left, as he and crewmates Flight Engineer Elena Serova and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) prepare to depart for the launch pad on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send Wilmore, Serova, and Samokutyaev on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

Expedition 39 Flight Engineer Steve Swanson of NASA, left, Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, and, Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, right, are seen as they report to the General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, far right, outside of Building 254 following their suit up for launch, Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Swanson, Skvortsov, and Artemyev onboard launched at 3:17 a.m. later that morning Kazakhstan time. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

Expedition 33/34 Russian Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin is escorted to the Soyuz rocket by Roscosmos Director of Human Space Flight Program Department Alexei Krasnov, left, and General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, ROSCOSMOS, Vladimir Popovkin, prior to his launch onboard a Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft with fellow crew members, NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, and, Russian Cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director-General, is seen giving a television interview shortly after the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz launch of Expedition 36 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Karen Nyberg of NASA, and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Monday, May 27, 2013, in Kazakhstan. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, talks during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz rocket launch of Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA for a six month mission aboard the International Space Station, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, left, and, President of RSC Energia, Designer General V.A.Lapota, right, assist Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, as he and fellow crew members, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, behind Tyurin, and, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, far back, walk to the soyuz rocket for their launch to the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Wakata, and, Mastracchio will launch in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Leaders from space agencies around the world take a moment from the International Space Station Heads of Agency meeting being held at Kennedy Space Center for a group portrait in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building. From left are Canadian Space Agency Vice-President Space Science, Technology and Programs Virendra Jha; Russian Federal Space Agency Head Anatolii Perminov; European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain; NASA Administrator Michael Griffin; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Keiji Tachikawa. The purpose of the meeting is to review International Space Station cooperation and endorse a revision to the station configuration and assembly sequence.

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, ROSCOSMOS, Vladimir Popovkin, waits at the Soyuz launch pad 31 to say farewell to Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin ahead of their boarding the spacecraft for launch to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, ROSCOSMOS, Vladimir Popovkin, is seen at launch site 31 after the arrival of the Soyuz rocket, on Sunday, October 21, 2012, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for October 23 and will send Expedition 33/34 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, left, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, right, shake hands following a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, left, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, right, are seen during a joint statement after the docking of the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft with the International Space Station on Thursday, May 29, 2014 at the Baikonur Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director-General, speaks during the State Commission meeting to approve the Soyuz launch of Expedition 36 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers; Karen Nyberg of NASA, and Luca Parmitano at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Monday, May 27, 2013, in Kazakhstan. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Russian Federal Space Agency Deputy General-Director Nikolai Moiseev, center, Renita Fincke, wife of Expedition 9 Flight Engineer Michael Fincke, second from right with baby, and other officials and family members celebrate the return of the Expedition 9 crew to Star City, Russia after their Soyuz capsule landed safely approximately 85 kilometers northeast of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan, Sunday, October 24, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Oleg Ostapenko, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, center, shakes hands with Expedition 40 Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, right, as he and crewmates Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, ESA, prepare to depart for the launch pad on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send Gerst, Suraev, and Wiseman on a five and a half month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Irina Peshkova)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Leaders from space agencies around the world take a moment from the International Space Station Heads of Agency meeting being held at Kennedy Space Center for a group portrait, framed by the space shuttle launch pads in Launch Complex 39. From left are Canadian Space Agency Vice-President Space Science, Technology and Programs Virendra Jha; Russian Federal Space Agency Head Anatolii Perminov; European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain; NASA Administrator Michael Griffin; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Keiji Tachikawa. The purpose of the meeting is to review International Space Station cooperation and endorse a revision to the station configuration and assembly sequence.

Expedition 33/34 crew members, NASA Astronaut and Flight Engineer Kevin Ford, front left, Russian Cosmonaut and Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, and Russian Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, back left, stop at the base of the Soyuz rocket for a formal farewell from President of the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Vitaly Lopota, back right, General Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin, right center, and NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier prior to the crews launch onboard a Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft to the International Space Station, Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket will send Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Leaders from space agencies around the world participate in a news briefing following the International Space Station Heads of Agency meeting held at Kennedy Space Center. From left are NASA Press Secretary Dean Acosta; NASA Administrator Michael Griffin; Canadian Space Agency Vice-President Space Science, Technology and Programs Virendra Jha; European Space Agency Director-General Jean-Jacques Dordain; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Keiji Tachikawa; Japanese interpreter Masako Kaharia; Russian Federal Space Agency Head Anatolii Perminov; and Russian interpreter Elena Maroko. The purpose of the meeting was to review International Space Station cooperation and endorse a revision to the station configuration and assembly sequence. At the meeting, the partners reaffirmed their agencies' commitment to meet their mutual obligations, to implement six person crew operations in 2009 and an adequate number of shuttle flights to complete the assembly of the space station by the end of the decade. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton

Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director-General, center, talks with unidentified ESA manager as an Orthodox Priest waits for Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers: Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA, and, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, so that he may preform the traditional blessing prior to the three crew members departing the Cosmonaut Hotel for launch onboard a Soyuz to the International Space Station, Tuesday, May 28, 2013, Baikonur Kazakhstan. The crew's Soyuz rocket is scheduled to launch at 2:31a.m., Wednesday May 29, Kazakh time. Yurchikhin, Nyberg, and, Parmitano, will remain aboard the station until mid-November. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the International Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, senior government officials from 15 countries participating in the space station program signed agreements in Washington D.C. on Jan. 29 to establish the framework of cooperation among the partners on the design, development, operation and utilization of the space station. Acting Secretary of State Strobe Talbott signed the 1998 Intergovernmental Agreement on Space Station Cooperation with representatives of Russia, Japan, Canada, and participating countries of the European Space Agency ESA -- Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Some of these officials then toured Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility SSPF with NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, at front, sixth from the left. They are, left to right, front to back: Hidetoshi Murayama, National Space Development Agency of Japan NASDA Louis Laurent, Embassy of France Haakon Blankenborg, Norwegian Parliament Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs His Excellency Joris Vos, ambassador of the Netherlands His Excellency Tom Vraalsen, ambassador of Norway Goldin Luigi Berlinguer, Italian minister for education, scientific, and technological research Antonio Rodota, director general, ESA Yvan Ylieff, Belgian minister of science and chairman of the ESA Ministerial Council Jacqueline Ylieff Masaaki Komatsu, Kennedy local NASDA representative and interpreter Serge Ivanets, space attache, Embassy of Russia Hiroshi Fujita, Science and Technology Agency of Japan Akira Mizutani, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peter Grognard, science attache', Royal Embassy of Belgium Michelangelo Pipan, Italian diplomatic counselor to the minister His Excellency Gerhard Fulda, German Federal Foreign Office Jorg Feustel-Buechl, ESA director of manned space flight and microgravity A. Yakovenko, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs JoAnn Morgan, Kennedy associate director for Advanced Development and Shuttle Upgrades Steve Francois, director, International Space Station and Shuttle Processing Roy Tharpe, Boeing launch site manager Jon Cowart, ISS elements manager John Schumacher, NASA associate administrator for external relations Didier Kechemair, space advistor to the French minister for education, research, and technology Yoshinori Yoshimura, NASDA and Loren Shriver, Kennedy deputy director for launch and payload processing. Node 1 of the ISS is in the background. Photo Credit: NASA