Expedition 23

Summary

Expedition 23 (Russian: МКС-23) was the 23rd long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition 23 began with the Soyuz TMA-16 undocking on 18 March 2010. Shortly thereafter cosmonauts Aleksandr Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko and astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson arrived at the Space Station on Soyuz TMA-18 on 4 April 2010.[1] The Soyuz spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 00:04 EST on 2 April 2010.[2]

ISS Expedition 23
Promotional Poster
Mission typeISS Expedition
Mission duration76 days, 16 hours, 1 minute
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began18 March 2010, 08:03 (2010-03-18UTC08:03Z) UTC
Ended2 June 2010, 00:04 (2010-06-02UTC00:05Z) UTC
Arrived aboardSoyuz TMA-17
Soyuz TMA-18
Departed aboardSoyuz TMA-17
Soyuz TMA-18
Crew
Crew size6
MembersExpedition 22/23:
Oleg Kotov
Soichi Noguchi
Timothy Creamer

Expedition 23/24:
Aleksandr Skvortsov
Mikhail Korniyenko
Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Expedition 23 mission patch

(l-r) Korniyenko, Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov, Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi 

Crew edit

Position First part
(March 2010 to April 2010)
Second part
(April 2010 to June 2010)
Commander   Oleg Kotov, RSA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1   Soichi Noguchi, JAXA
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2   Timothy Creamer, NASA
Only spaceflight
Flight Engineer 3   Aleksandr Skvortsov, RSA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 4   Mikhail Korniyenko, RSA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 5   Tracy Caldwell Dyson, NASA
Second spaceflight
Source
NASA[3]

Backup crew edit

Mission overview edit

Three Russian cosmonauts, two American and one Japanese astronauts made up the Expedition 23 crew. It was the first ISS crew to include three Russians at once.[4] The Expedition 23 crew continued outfitting the newest modules of the nearly completed space station. The crew welcomed the shuttle flight STS-131 in April 2010. The Expedition 23 crew also saw the arrival of the Rasvet Russian docking module (MRM1) aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-132, which launched on 14 May 2010.

 
The three astronauts of STS-131 and Tracy Caldwell (bottom left) of ISS Expedition 23, the first time four women being at the same time in space.[5]

Gallery edit

References edit

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

  1. ^ Harwood, William (4 April 2010). "Soyuz capsule arrives at International Space Station". Spaceflightnow. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  2. ^ William Harwood (2 April 2010). "Soyuz crew transport capsule heads for space station". Spaceflightnow. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  3. ^ NASA HQ (2008). "NASA Assigns Space Station Crews, Updates Expedition Numbering". NASA. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  4. ^ NASA (April 2010). "Press Kit Expedition 23 and 24 Science for Six" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  5. ^ "Four Women will Fly in Space for the First Time in the History". Russian Federal Space Agency. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.

External links edit

  • NASA's Space Station Expeditions page
  • Expedition 23 photography