Expedition 38 Prelaunch

Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, left, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, 2nd from left, and, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, prepare to receive the traditional blessing from a Russian Orthodox priest at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to their launch on the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Wakata, and, Mastracchio will launch in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft to the International Space Station to begin a six-month mission. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)