Alexander Gerst during the press conference

Expedition 40/41 Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, gives a thumbs up during the crew's press conference at the Cosmonaut Hotel, Tuesday, 27 May, 2014, in Kazakhstan.

Alexander Gerst, Soyuz Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman of NASA, are ready for launch on 28 May from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft for a five and a half month mission on the International Space Station