Baikonur launchsite saw traditional flag-raising ceremony taking place at the pad #17 in front of Cosmonaut hotel.

Baikonur saw official flag-raising ceremony. Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko raised the flag of Russia, Alexander Misurkin and Nickolay Tikhonov – the flag of Kazakhstan, NASA astronauts Robert Shane Kimbrough and Mark Vande Hei – the flag of USA.

On Wednesday, August 24, prime crew of Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft comprising crew commander Sergey Ryzhikov (Roscosmos) and flight engineers Andrei Borisenko (Roscosmos) and Robert Shane Kimbrough (NASA) passed typical flight day training in GCTC.

Prime (Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko, NASA astronaut Robert Shane Kimbrough) and back-up (Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Nickolay Tikhonov, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai) crews of ISS-49/50 mission are finishing their exams in GCTC.

Russian prime and back-up crew members of ISS-49/50 mission passed preflight exams in GCTC.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov, Ivan Wagner, Sergey Ryazansky, Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Prokopiev, Alexander Samokutyayev, NASA astronauts Scott Teangle, Randolph Bresnik, Andrew Feustel, Janet Epps, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and JAXA astronaut Norishige Kanai preparing to go to space in 2017 and 2018 passed water survival trainings in GCTC.

Baikonur spaceport saw traditional flag raising ceremony taking place at pad #17 in front of "Cosmonaut" hotel. Soyuz MS main and back-up crew members raised the flags of the countries participating in the mission.

On March 3, 2016, GCTC officially saw off the members of prime and back-up ISS-47/48 mission crews to Baikonur.

At 07:29, Moscow time, March 02, 2016, Soyuz TMA-18M descent capsule successfully landed in Kazakh steppe to 147 km of Jezkazgan town.

On Friday GCTC saw press-conference of ISS-47/48 mission crews. Before the presss conference Interdepartmental Commission meeting Roscosmos, GCTC, RSC Energia and Federal Bio-Medical Agency representatives were taking part in approved the crews for further preflight preparations at Baikonur. The main crew of Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft comproses Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, the back-up crew – Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko and NASA astronaut Robert Kimbrough.