Astronaut Garan Rehearses Launch

JSC2011-E-027672 (22 March 2011) --- Seated in the right seat of the descent module of the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft, NASA astronaut Ron Garan, Expedition 27 flight engineer, runs through a checklist of procedures during a dress rehearsal of launch activities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan March 22, 2011. Garan, along with Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev (center), Soyuz commander; and Andrey Borisenko, flight engineer, are scheduled to launch April 5 (April 4, U.S. time) in the Soyuz, which has been dubbed "Gagarin" and which bears the likeness of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. The launch will occur just one week shy of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s historic journey into space from the same launch pad that the Expedition 27 crew will begin their mission from. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov