Expedition 40/41 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Soyuz commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and flight engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, greeting audience at the launch pad, just before entering elevator transporting the crew up to the top of the Soyuz rocket, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 28 May 2014.
Gerst, Suraev and Wiseman will live and work in space for the next six months.