Expedition 59 crew members hold “launch keys” during traditional pre-launch activities

jsc2019e013420 (March 10, 2019) --- At the Baikonur Cosmodrome Museum in Kazakhstan, Expedition 59 crew members Christina Koch of NASA (left), Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos (center) and Nick Hague of NASA (right) display copies of the “launch keys” March 10 during traditional pre-launch activities. An actual key is inserted into a device at the Cosmodrome’s launch control center and rotated into a “start” position to initiate a terminal countdown sequence for a Soyuz rocket prior to liftoff. Koch, Hague and Ovchinin will launch March 14, U.S. time, in the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome for a six-and-a-half month mission on the International Space Station.