jsc2012e051524

At the historic museum near the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 31/32 backup and prime crews pose for pictures May 11, 2012 in front of the mural depicting the likeness of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to fly in space. The photo session took place as training for the launch of Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin drew to a close for their liftoff May 15 in their Soyuz TMA-04 spacecraft to begin a four-month mission on the International Space Station. From left to right are backup crewmembers Oleg Novitskiy, Kevin Ford of NASA and Evgeny Tarelkin, and the prime crew, Padalka, Revin and Acaba. In the foreground are replicas of the small cottages Gagarin and the Russian space program’s “Great Designer”, Sergei Korolev slept in on the eve of Gagarin’s launch on April 12, 1961. The real cottages are located near the museum in Baikonur. NASA/Victor Zelentsov