Expedition 38 Prelaunch

Expedition 38 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency receives the traditional blessing from a Russian Orthodox priest at the Cosmonaut Hotel prior to his launch on the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station with Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, and, Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, 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)