At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 43 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), NASA Flight Engineer Scott Kelly and their backups, Alexei Ovchinin and Sergei Volkov of Roscosmos and Jeff Williams of NASA participated in a variety of activities March 14-20 as they prepared for the launch of Padalka, Kelly and Kornienko to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft on March 27 U.S. time (March 28, Kazakh time). The footage includes the crew’s arrival in Baikonur, their Soyuz fit checks in the Cosmodrome Integration Facility, the ceremonial Cosmonaut Hotel flag-raising ceremony, various training activities and interviews with Kelly, Kornienko and Kelly’s Flight Surgeon, Dr. Stevan Gilmore. Kelly and Kornienko will spend a year aboard the orbital outpost.
