Astronauts Kate Rubins and Peggy Whitson

jsc2016e076917 (06/24/2016) — At the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Expedition 48-49 prime crew member Kate Rubins of NASA (left) shares a lighthearted moment June 24 with backup crew member Peggy Whitson of NASA before departing for their launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Rubins, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch July 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft for a planned four-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Stephanie Stoll