To date, alumnus Butch Wilmore has spent 10 days, 19 hours and 16 minutes in space.

At least, until he leaves for another mission Sept. 25. This time, Wilmore is headed to the International Space Station (ISS).

Alongside him, Yelena Serova, the first Russian female cosmonaut to be aboard the ISS, and Aleksandr Samokutyayev, commander of the Soyuz spacecraft, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the world’s first and largest space launch facility. The Navy captain will serve as flight engineer and then commander of Expedition 42.

Not scheduled to return to Earth until March 2015, Wilmore and the cosmonauts will preform experiments in space and improve the ISS to allow commercial space vehicles to dock there in coming years.

In preparation for the upcoming mission, Wilmore learned Russian – an admittedly difficult undertaking. Though English remains the official language on the ISS, Wilmore and his team said communication is essential for daily operations, as well as honoring diversity.

Despite their disparate backgrounds, Samokutyayev recalls perfect unity in past flights.

“Taken in my experience from flights, we had a mix of cultures,” Samokutyayev said. “We had the presence of Europeans on board, Russians, Japanese and Americans, of course. And, indeed, they’re all united by the same spirit of one and the same team. And for a mission to be performed properly and for the sake of all of us we all need to have a general, common understanding of everything.”

Leading up to the flight, Wilmore, Serova and Samokutyayev spent years training together as a crew.

When Wilmore arrives in Kazakhstan in mid-August, these tests will continue, which are mostly simulations of tasks the crew must complete while on board.