jsc2013e090727

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 38/39 backup Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency (right, far left), backup Soyuz Commander Max Suraev (right, center) and backup Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman (right, far right) pay tribute at the statue of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to fly in space during a ceremony October 22, 2013. The trio is backing up the prime crew, Expedition 38/39 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA, Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin, who will launch Nov. 7, Kazakh time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft for the start of a six-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Stephanie Stoll