AKIPRESS.COM - Expedition 49-50 crew prepared September 8-16 for the launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, NASA said. 

The preparations for the launch set for September 24 were attended by Expedition 49-50 Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineer Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough of NASA along with their backups, Alexander Misurkin and Nikolai Tikhonov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA.

Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko will take off on the Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

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, encapsulation of the Soyuz spacecraft into its booster, and the crew’s traditional media day activities.