Behind the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 36/37 backup and prime crewmembers pose for pictures in front of a Proton rocket statue May 22 following traditional ceremonies. From left to right are backup Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backup Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin, backup Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, prime Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA, prime Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and prime Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano are prepari

---

Behind the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 36/37 backup and prime crewmembers pose for pictures in front of a Proton rocket statue May 22 following traditional ceremonies. From left to right are backup Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, backup Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin, backup Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, prime Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA, prime Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and prime Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. Nyberg, Yurchikhin and Parmitano are preparing for their launch May 29, Kazakh time, in the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft to begin a 5 ½ month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Victor Zelentsov Soyuz TMA-09M crew and backup crew in front of a Proton rocket statue

---

Size: 1936px × 1291px
Photo credit: © NASA Image Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, copy, editorial, nasa, news, night, photograph, photography, rocket, sky, space, stock