An Orthodox Priest blesses members of the media after he blessed the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch pad, on 16 November 2016, in Kazakhstan.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and commander Oleg Novitsky will be launched 17 November for a six-month mission on the International Space Station.
Follow Thomas via thomaspesquet.esa.int and check out the mission blog for updates.