Expedition 52-53 backup crew during traditional pre-launch ceremonies

jsc2017e100895 (July 18, 2017) --- In the town of Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Expedition 52-53 backup crewmembers Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, second from left), Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos, second from right) and Mark Vande Hei of NASA (far right) enjoy a traditional cup of tea in a mockup of a Russian “yurt” or tent in Baikonur’s space museum July 18 as part of traditional pre-launch ceremonies. They 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.