jsc2014e024128

At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 39/40 backup crewmember and Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev of Roscosmos (foreground) signs in for the first of two days of qualification exams March 4 as his crewmate, Elena Serova of Roscosmos looks on. The prime crew – Steve Swanson of NASA and Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are preparing to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station on March 26, Kazakh time, on their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft for a six-month mission. NASA/Stephanie Stoll