Soyuz TMA-06M (Expedition 33) launched 2012

Soyuz TMA-06M crew (L-R): Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-06M, launched October 23, 2012, carried members of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin and Kevin Ford (NASA).

They greeted the residents of the ISS Sunita Williams, Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide.  They remained on board until March 2013 when they returned to Earth.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kevin Ford!

Kevin Ford, born July 7, 1960 in Montpelier, Indiana, has made two trips to the International Space Station, once via the Space Shuttle, the other via Soyuz.

His first flight to the ISS was on Discovery (STS-128) as pilot August-September 2009.  It was the final space shuttle flight used  for  ISS crew rotation.

Ford's second trip was as Flight Engineer aboard Soyuz TMA-06M in October 2012 as part  of Expeditions 33-34.  He returned to Earth March 2013.

Discovery (STS-128) launched 2009

Seated (L-R):  Kevin Ford, Frederick Sturckow

Standing (L-R): Jose Hernandez, John Olivas, Nicole Stott, Christer Fuglesang, Patrick Forrester

Discovery took off August 28, 2009, the 25th anniversary of its first flight just seconds before midnight, so NASA can say it is the first (probably the only) time a launch took place over two calendar days.

Her crew consisted of Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Kevin Ford, Mission specialist 1 Patrick Forrester, Mission Specialist 2 Jose Hernandez, Mission Specialist 3 John Olivas, Mission Specialist 4 Christer Fuglesang (ESA - Sweden) and Mission Specialist Nicole Stott.

It is the first time two astronauts of Mexican heritage were in space at the same time.  Olivas performed 3 EVAs, once with Stott and twice with Fuglesang.

Discovery returned to Earth September 8.