Ceremonies – part of flying on the Soyuz

Tim signs the memorial book

Expedition 46/47 crew and backup crew

Part of flying on the Soyuz spacecraft is taking part in a number of traditions and ceremonies. Now that ESA astronaut Tim Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and commander Yuri Malenchenko  completed their final spacecraft exams on Friday they were cleared for flight by the Russian state commission on Monday.

After the event all cosmonauts and astronauts sign a memorial book and head to the Red Square to pay respects to fallen heroes of Russian spaceflight by laying red roses at a monument wall. They are joined by the backup crew of commander Anatoli Ivanishin, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins.

The two trios will depart for Baikonur cosmodrome on 30 November.

More pictures of Soyuz exams and the visit to Red Square can be seen on Tim’s Flickr page and below:

Tim, Tim and Yuri