Expedition 18 Launch Day

American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, left, Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, right, prepare to salute officials prior to launch in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, Sunday Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  The crew is scheduled to dock to the International Space Station on Oct. 14.  Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crewmembers currently on the International Space Station.  Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)

American spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, left, Expedition 18 Flight Engineer Yuri V. Lonchakov and Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, right, prepare to salute officials prior to launch in the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft, Sunday Oct. 12, 2008 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew is scheduled to dock to the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24 with two of the Expedition 17 crewmembers currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Victor Zelentsov)