jsc2012e220509

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 33/34 crew posed for pictures October 10, 2012 in front of their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft during the first of two “fit check” dress rehearsal sessions. NASA Flight Engineer Kevin Ford (left), Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy (center) and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin (right) are in the final phase of their training for launch October 23 for a five-month mission on the International Space Station. Novitskiy is holding a toy hippopotamus that will serve as a “zero-g” indicator over his head while he is strapped into the center seat of the descent module section of the Soyuz during its nine minute climb from the launch pad to orbit. NASA/Victor Zelentsov