The Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft moved by train, 21 November 2014, from the assembly building to Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad 31, in Kazakhstan.
The launch of the Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station with Expedition 42/43 ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, Roscosmos commander Anton Shkaplerov and NASA astronaut Terry Virts is scheduled on 23 November at 20:59 GMT (21:59 CET).
Samantha was assigned to the Futura mission more than two years ago and has travelled the world training on all the elements of the most complex machine ever built: the International Space Station. She learnt how to control the Station’s robotic arms, how to handle any emergency and how to perform all the scientific experiments she will run for the scientists on Earth.