Expedition 9 Arrival

Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka (front row center), Flight Engineer and NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke (left of Padalka) and European Space Agency Astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands (second to right from Padalka) pose for a group photo with launch officials after arrival 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 Commander Gennady Padalka, center in uniform, Flight Engineer and NASA International Space Station Science Officer Mike Fincke, left of Padalka, and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, fifth from right, pose for a group photo with launch officials after arrival 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)