Expedition 52-53 backup crew at the statue of Russian space designer Mikhail Ryazanskiy

jsc2017e100903 (July 18, 2017) --- Expedition 52-53 backup crewmembers Mark Vande Hei of NASA (left), Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos, center) and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, right) pose for pictures in front of the statue of Sergey Korolev, the iconic Russian space designer, during traditional ceremonies July 18 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The three are serving as backups to Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, Randy Bresnik of NASA and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, who will launch July 28 on the Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.