jsc2012e049919

Outside their Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 31/32 prime and backup crews conducted the traditional raising of Russian, U.S. and Kazakh flags May 4, 2012 as part of their ceremonial activities leading up to the launch of the Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft May 15 to the International Space Station. From left to right are prime Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and backup NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford and backup Russian crewmembers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin. Padalka, Revin and Acaba will launch to the station for a four-month mission on the orbital outpost. NASA/Victor Zelentsov