From left: ESA astronaut Tim Peake, commander-cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Tim Kopra. The trio will leave our planet on 15 December 2015 from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz rocket seen behind them.
Delivering 26 million horse-power, their Soyuz rocket will carry them 1640 km downrange and lift them 210 km above our planet in 10 minutes.
The trip to the Space Station should take only six hours, orbiting Earth four times as they catch up with the outpost flying at 28 800 km/h. The trio have a backup itinerary of two days that mission controllers can call on if necessary.