Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko ceremonially handed command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. The two cosmonauts along with their four station crewmates were inside the Zvezda service module for the crew handover.
With Friday's scheduled return to Earth for International Space Station crewmembers Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin, the traditional change of command ceremony was held on Wednesday 25 April.
The ISS command was passed from Expedition 30 Commander NASA astronaut Dan Burbank to Russian cosmonaut and Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko. Expedition 31 will formally start with the undocking of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft at 10:18 CEST (08:18 UT).
Watch replay of the change of command ceremony:
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