Expedition 9 Arrival

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka (center saluting), Flight Engineer and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke (foreground) and European Space Agency Astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands (background) are greeted by launch officials after arriving at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, April 13, 2004, six days prior to their scheduled launch on board a Soyuz rocket. The trio is scheduled to be launched on April 19, 2004 to the International Space Station for an arrival on April 21. Padalka and Fincke will spend six months on the ISS, replacing the Expedition 8 crew, which has been aboard the ISS since October 20, 2003. Kuipers, who is flying under a commercial contract between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, will return to Earth with the Expedition 8 crew on April 30, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 9 Flight Engineer and NASA International Space Station Science Officer Mike Fincke, left, Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, third from left, are greeted by launch officials after arriving at Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Tuesday, April 13, 2004, six days prior to their scheduled launch on board a Soyuz rocket. Kuipers, who is flying under a commercial contract between ESA (European Space Agency) and the Russian Federal Space Agency, will return to Earth with the Expedition 8 crew on April 30, 2004. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Photographer NASA/Bill Ingalls
Andre KuipersESA European Space Agency ROSCOSMOS Russian Federal Space Agency BaikonurKazakhstanExpedition 9 PreflightGennady PadalkaMichael FinckeExpedition 9