jsc2017e136940 - At the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 54-55 prime and backup crewmembers raise the flags of Russia, the United States, Japan and Kazakhstan Dec. 6 in traditional pre-launch ceremonies. Anton Shkaplero

At the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 54-55 prime and backup crewmembers raise the flags of Russia, the United States, Japan and Kazakhstan Dec. 6 in traditional pre-launch ceremonies. Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Scott Tingle of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch Dec. 17 on the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

Andrey Shelepin/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

jsc2017e136940 - At the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 54-55 prime and backup crewmembers raise the flags of Russia, the United States, Japan and Kazakhstan Dec. 6 in traditional pre-launch ceremonies. Anton Shkaplero