An all-veteran crew lifted off from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday March 21, 2018 on a planned 160-day mission to the International Space Station as part of Expeditions 55 and 56.

Russia’s Soyuz rocket emerged from its assembly hall in the dark of night and rolled through banks of early morning fog on March 19, 2018 to be placed atop the Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Site 1/5 launch pad in preparation for liftoff with an all-veteran ISS crew on a half-year mission.

Engineers at the Baikonur Cosmodrome completed the assembly of a Soyuz FG rocket on March 17, 2018 in preparation for a March 21st liftoff with the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft, carrying Oleg Artemyev, Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz MS-08 crew members, Oleg Artemyev, Drew Feustel & Ricky Arnold participate in traditional pre-launch activities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome along with their backups, Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague.

Beginning their final two weeks of launch preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Soyuz MS-08 crew of Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineers Drew Feustel & Ricky Arnold conducted fit checks of their Sokol Launch and Entry Suits on Monday, March 5, 2018 followed by a suited ingress exercise on their Soyuz

The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft (No. 738) undergoes pre-launch processing at Site 254 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome after arrival in early late 2017.

The crew of Soyuz MS-08, Commander Oleg Artemyev and Flight Engineers Drew Feustel & Ricky Arnold, along with their backups, participate in traditional pre-launch activities in Moscow including the traditional visit to Red Square and the final formal press conference before launch before departing for the Baikonur Cosmodrome

The crew of International Space Station Expedition 55/56 completes final centrifuge runs, Soyuz simulations and ISS Systems Exams at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside of Moscow in preparation for launch aboard the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft in March 2018.