On Thursday, Soyuz spacecraft will be launched. All the preparations have been done and the three new members of the Expedition 44 crew have reached the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. The team comprises of flight engineer Kjell Lindgren from NASA; Kimiya Yui from JAXA and Commander Oleg Kononenko from Roscosmos.

The night before the launch, Yui and his colleagues have planned to watch, White Sun of the Desert. Yiu also has plan to plant a tree from leaving for the ISS. It is a Russian culture, which was started by Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Soviet pilot.

In 1961 before going to space, he planted a tree and since then, it has become a tradition among astronauts. Watching movie is also considered to be a ritual, which has started in 1973. Astronauts aboard Soyuz 12 watched that move and reached safely on earth.

All these customs are just a way to wish for a safe trip. On the day of the launch, astronauts sign the hotel's door and holy water is sprinkled on them by a member of the Russian Orthodox clergy.

The crew will join the already present crew for past one year. The crew already present at the ISS includes American Scott Kelly and Russian Mikhail Kornienko and Russian commander Gennady Padalka, who all are part of Expedition 44.

Yui said he is quite confident about the trip, which is taking place after almost two months delay that happened due to failed launch of another spacecraft using a similar rocket.