ESA image: Samantha Cristoforetti wearing her Sokol spacesuit

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti putting on her Sokol pressure suit at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Russia while preparing for her six-month Futura mission to the International Space Station.

The Sokol suit protects astronauts during launch and landing in the Soyuz space ferry. Simulations in a full-size Soyuz mockup are part of the final tests before flight.

Samantha will be launched with NASA astronaut Terry Wirts and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov on 23 November at 20:59 GMT (21:59 CET; 24 November 02:59 local time) from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.