jsc2011e215279

In the pre-dawn hours at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Star City, Russia on Dec. 8, 2011, the prime and backup crewmembers who will round out Expedition 30 on the International Space Station pose for pictures with U.S. and Russian space officials in front of the statue of Vladimir Lenin prior to their departure for the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. From left to right are backup Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko, backup NASA Flight Engineer Suni Williams, prime NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, prime Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko, prime Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency and backup Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Kononenko, Pettit and Kuipers will launch to the ISS on Dec. 21 in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. Credit: NASA