Expedition 46-47 Prime and Backup Crew Members

At their Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Expedition 46-47 prime and backup crew members participate in a traditional flag raising ceremony Dec. 2. From left to right are prime crew members Tim Peake of the European Space Agency, Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Tim Kopra of NASA and backup crew members Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Kopra, Peake and Malenchenko will launch on Dec. 15 on the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. NASA/Victor Zelentsov