Top-bottom: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, US astronaut Timothy J. Creamer and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov wave before boarding a Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft at Baikonur cosmodrome on December 20. A Russian rocket carrying three astronauts from Japan, Russia and the United States docked at the International Space Station Wednesday, the Russian flight control centre said.
(AFP/File/Dmitry Kostyukov)