jsc2017e095970

jsc2017e095970 (July 16, 2017) --- With a tree-shrouded statue of Vladimir Lenin serving as a backdrop at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, the Expedition 52-53 prime and backup crewmembers and some family members pose for pictures July 16 before the crewmembers flew to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final pre-launch training. From left to right are backup crewmembers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and prime crewmembers Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and his family, including his wife Alexandra, Randy Bresnik of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and his wife, Alexandra. Ryazanskiy, Bresnik and Nespoli will launch July 28 from Baikonur on the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft for a five-month mission on the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Beth Weissinger