Soyuz Rocket Ready to Launch New Station Crew

The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket, adorned with the logo of the Sochi Olympic Organizing Committee and other related artwork, is seen in this long exposure photograph, as the service structure arms are raised into position at the launch pad on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for November 7 and will send Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The crew is to take part in an Olympic torch stunt, and spacewalkers Kotov and Ryazanskiy will carry a lit torch outside the station on Saturday. 

The remainder of the torch stunt will be the return to Earth with Expedition 37, where, allegedly, the same flame will light the receptacle at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls