jsc2017e136050 - At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 54-55 prime crewmember Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) listens to a reporter’s question during a crew news conference Nov. 30. Sh

jsc2017e136050 - At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 54-55 backup crewmember Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) signs a ceremonial book Nov. 30 as part of traditional pre-launch ceremonies. In the front row from left to right are the backup crewmembers, NASA’s Jeanette Epps, Prokopyev and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. In the back row are the prime crewmembers, Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Scott Tingle of NASA. Shkaplerov, Tingle and Kanai will launch Dec. 17 on the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for a five-month mission on the International Space Station...Andrey Shelepin/Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.