Soyuz MS-03 crew

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet (right) with his fellow Expedition 50/51 crewmates NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (centre), stand underneath a Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Early on 7 July the launcher carried three new International Space Station astronauts into space - NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi. Thomas, Peggy and Oleg were at Baikonur Cosmodrome as their backup crew and took the opportunity to visit the launchpad ahead of the launch.

Thomas is training for his Proxima mission to the ISS, set for launch in November 2016. He will spend six months living and working on the Station.

Follow Thomas on social media at: http://thomaspesquet.esa.int