Expedition 16 Preflight

Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, right, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko participate in the traditional blessing prior to joining Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor for the bus ride to building 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome where the crew don their spacesuits, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007, in Baikonur.  The crew is set to launch at sunset in their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft bound for a docking to the International Space Station on October 12.  Whitson and Malenchenko will spend six months on the station, while Shukor will return to Earth October 21 with two of the Expedition 15 crewmembers currently on the complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, right, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko participate in the traditional blessing prior to joining Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor for the bus ride to building 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome where the crew don their spacesuits, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007, in Baikonur. The crew is set to launch at sunset in their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft bound for a docking to the International Space Station on October 12. Whitson and Malenchenko will spend six months on the station, while Shukor will return to Earth October 21 with two of the Expedition 15 crewmembers currently on the complex. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)