14 DAY TRIAL // NASA has just released a new image showcasing members of the Expedition 38 crew holding the Olympic Torch they will take into space later this week. The astronauts are getting ready to embark on a five-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS) starting on November 7.
The image shows Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) flight engineer Koichi Wakata (left), Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) mission commander Mikhail Tyurin, and NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio. They make up half of Expedition 38.
The Torch they carry will be used to light the Olympic Flame that will watch over the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, to be held in Sochi, Russia. On November 9, astronauts aboard the ISS are scheduled to take it out for a spacewalk, just one day ahead of its return to Earth with half of Expedition 37.
The three astronauts will take off for the station aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft, which is currently being prepared at Launch Pad 1/5, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. This photo was taken during a press conference held today, November 6, in Baikonur.