Wikipedia

Expedition 31

Expedition 31 was the 31st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). It began on 27 April 2012 with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, which returned the Expedition 30 crew to Earth.[1] The expedition ended on 1 July 2012, when crew members Oleg Kononenko, André Kuipers and Don Pettit departed from the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-03M, marking the beginning of Expedition 32.[2]

Expedition 31
Promotional Poster
Mission typeLong-duration expedition
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began27 April 2012, 08:15 (2012-04-27UTC08:15Z) UTC[1]
Ended1 July 2012, 04:48 (2012-07-01UTC04:49Z) UTC[2]
Arrived aboardSoyuz TMA-03M
Soyuz TMA-04M
Departed aboardSoyuz TMA-03M
Soyuz TMA-04M
Crew
Crew size6
MembersExpedition 30/31:
Oleg Kononenko
André Kuipers
Don Pettit

Expedition 31/32:
Joseph M. Acaba
Gennady Padalka
Sergei Revin

Expedition 31 mission patch

(l-r) Acaba, Padalka, Revin, Kuipers, Kononenko and Pettit

Crew

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Position First part
(April 2012 to May 2012) 		Second part
(May 2012 to July 2012)
Commander   Oleg Kononenko, RSA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1   André Kuipers, ESA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2   Don Pettit, NASA
Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer 3   Joseph M. Acaba, NASA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 4   Gennady Padalka, RSA
Fourth spaceflight
Flight Engineer 5   Sergei Revin, RSA
Only spaceflight
Source
NASA[3][4][5][6]

Mission highlights

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Soyuz TMA-22 departure

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Expedition 31 formally began on 27 April 2012, with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft. Soyuz TMA-22 successfully returned Expedition 30 astronauts Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin to Earth.[1] The ISS was left under the command of astronauts Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit, who had arrived at the station aboard Soyuz TMA-03M on 23 December 2011.

Soyuz TMA-04M arrival

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The final three members of Expedition 31 – Acaba, Padalka and Revin – arrived at the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-04M, which launched on 15 May 2012,[7] and docked to the ISS on 17 May at 4:36 UTC.[8]

SpaceX Dragon test mission

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SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft conducted a test rendezvous with the ISS during Expedition 31, as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program; it was the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with the ISS. Following a series of delays,[9] Dragon launched on 22 May 2012, and berthed successfully with the ISS on 25 May, after conducting a series of orbital test manoeuvres.[10][11] Dragon carried around 460 kilograms (1,010 lb) of cargo to the ISS, including food, clothing, a laptop computer and 15 student experiments.[10] After being loaded with 660 kilograms (1,460 lb) of downmass cargo, including completed experiments and redundant equipment, it undocked from the station and returned to Earth on 31 May 2012.[12][13] Dragon landed intact in the Pacific Ocean and was successfully recovered, allowing SpaceX to begin regular cargo flights[broken anchor] to the ISS.[14] The first such logistics mission, CRS SpX-1, launched successfully in October 2012.[15][16]

Soyuz TMA-03M departure

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Soyuz TMA-03M departed from the ISS on 1 July 2012, successfully returning Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit to Earth. Their departure marked the formal end of Expedition 31, and the beginning of Expedition 32.[2]

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In the 2012 The Big Bang Theory episode "The Friendship Contraction", character Howard Wolowitz reveals that he will be a member of a fictionalized version of Expedition 31, alongside Dimitri Rezinov, a character created for the show, and Mike Massimino, playing a fictional version of himself.[17]

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  •  
    Soyuz TMA-22 departs the ISS on 27 April 2012, marking the beginning of Expedition 31.
  •  
    An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket on 14 May 2012.
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    The Expedition 31 crew wave goodbye before the launch on 15 May 2012.
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    The launch of Soyuz TMA-04M on 15 May 2012.
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    SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft approaches the ISS on 25 May 2012.
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    Expedition 31 posing inside the docked Dragon capsule on 29 May 2012.

References

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  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  1. ^ a b c "Soyuz TMA-22 returns to Earth with three outbound ISS crewmembers". NASASpaceflight.com, 27 April 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Harding, Pete (1 July 2012). "Soyuz TMA-03M undocks from ISS and returns to Earth". NASASpaceFlight (not associated with NASA). Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  3. ^ NASA HQ (2009). "NASA and its International Partners Assign Space Station Crews". NASA. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  4. ^ NASA HQ (2010). "NASA And Partners Assign Crews For Upcoming Space Station Missions". NASA. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  5. ^ ESA astronaut André Kuipers to spend six months on the ISS starting in 2011
  6. ^ "Expedition 31 crew page". NASA. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  7. ^ "Three New Crew Members En Route to Station". Latest News. NASA. Archived from the original on 2 June 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
  8. ^ Harwood, William (17 May 2012). "Three-man crew docks at International Space Station". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  9. ^ "SpaceX Dragon chokes at the last second". The Register. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  10. ^ a b Clara Moskowitz (22 May 2012). "SpaceX Launches Private Capsule on Historic Trip to Space Station". Space.com. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Station grabs SpaceX Dragon ship". BBC. 25 May 2012.
  12. ^ "SpaceX Dragon Capsule opens new era". Reuters via BusinessTech.co.za. 28 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Splashdown for SpaceX Dragon spacecraft". BBC. 31 May 2012.
  14. ^ "Its First Mission Done, SpaceX Looks to More Private Flights". The New York Times. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  15. ^ Bergin, Chris (31 August 2012). "SpaceX conduct successful WDR on their latest Falcon 9". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  16. ^ "Liftoff! SpaceX Dragon Launches 1st Private Space Station Cargo Mission". Space.com. 8 October 2012.
  17. ^ "The Friendship Contraction". The Big Bang Theory. Season 5. Episode 15. 2 February 2012. 02:20 minutes in.
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