Expedition 41/42 Soyuz Commander Alexander Samokutyaev and Flight Engineer Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Barry Wilmore, and their backups, Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko of Roscosmos and Scott Kelly of NASA, appeared before the Russian State Commission on Sept. 24 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The commission gave its final approval for the launch of Samokutyaev, Wilmore and Serova to the International Space Station on Sept. 26, Kazakh time in their Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft. The crew members also conducted a final prelaunch news conference at the Cosmonaut Hotel. Serova will become only the fourth Russian female cosmonaut to fly in space. Kelly and Kornienko are scheduled to launch in March 2015 for a one-year mission on the space station.

Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

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