Expedition One begins aboard ISS 2000

Expedition 1 crew (L-R): Sergei Krikalev, Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko

Expedition 1 mission patch

Expedition One, which began November 2, 2000, marked the beginning of a constant human presence aboard the International Space Station.  Crew members William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev had blasted off just two days before aboard Soyuz TM-31 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  

The first supply ship, the unmanned Russian spacecraft Progress M1-4 arrived at the station on November 18. 

On December 2, Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-97) arrived at the ISS, bringing more equipment for the station.  The crew conducted three EVAs prior to boarding the station. The Endeavour's crew returned to Earth December 11.

Expedition One's crew was given Christmas Day and New Year's Day off.

On February 9, 2001, Atlantis (STS-98) docked with the station bringing a crew of five for a temporary stay.  By this time, Expedition One had been on board for three months.  NASA had noticed a "three-month wall", a psychological barrier that causes depression in previous astronauts.  To combat this, NASA allowed more time for them to speak to their families and encouraged them to watch movies and listen to music they liked.

Discovery (STS-102) arrived at the ISS March 10, 2001, bringing a new crew for Expedition 2.  Expedition One returned to Earth on Discovery March 21, ending their four and a half months stay in space.

Happy birthday, Kazakh cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev!

Talgat Musabayev, born January 7, 1951 in present-day Kazakhstan, is a veteran of three space flights.  

His first trip was aboard Soyuz TM-19 as Flight Engineer to the space station Mir, in July 1994.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-16 and returned to Earth in November 1994.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TM-27 as Commander to Mir in January 1998.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-25 and returned to Earth in August 1998.

His third and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-32 to the International Space Station in April 2001.  He participated in expedition ISS EP-1.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-31 in May 2001.

He has spent over 341 days in space. 

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev!

Sergei Krikalev, born August 27, 1958 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia), is a veteran of six space flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-7 as Flight Engineer to the space station Mir.  He participated in Mir EO-4, spending 151 days in space.

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-12 as flight engineer to Mir in May 1991.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-9. He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-13 in March 1992.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994. He was the first cosmonaut aboard a Space Shuttle.

His fourth mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-88) as mission specialist in December 1998.  The mission took the Unity node to the ISS.

His fifth mission was aboard Soyuz TM-31 to the International Space Station in October 2000.  He participated in Expedition 1.  He returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001.

His sixth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-6 as Commander in April 2005 to the International Space Station. where he participated in Expedition 11.  He returned to Earth in October. 

He has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes in space.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yuri Baturin!

Yuri Baturin, born June 12, 1949 in Moscow, Russia, is a veteran of two space flights.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TM-28 to the space station Mir in August 1998.  He was part of the expedition Mir EP-4 and stayed on board for over 11 days.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-27.

His second and final mission was aboard Soyuz TM-32 in April 2001 to the International Space Station.  He was part of ISS EP-1 and remained on board for almost 8 days.  He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-31.

Prior to becoming an astronaut,Baturin was an Assistant to the President for Boris Yeltsin.

Happy birthday, Expedition 1 commander William Shepherd!

William Shepherd, born July 26, 1949 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is a veteran of three shuttle missions and was a member of the first crew aboard the International Space Station.  He was selected as an astronaut for NASA in 1984. 

His first mission into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) as mission specialist in December 1988.  Atlantis carried payloads for the Department of Defense so many of the details of the trip are classified.

Shepherd's second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-41) in October 1990.  This mission deployed the Ulysses probe to investigate polar regions of the Sun.

His third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-52) October-November 1992, which deployed the Laser Geodynamic Satellite.

In 1993, he was assigned to become the commander of Expedition 1 to the ISS aboard Soyuz TM-31 in October 2000.  With cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, he stayed on board until March 2001.  They returned to Earth aboard Discovery (STS-102).

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko!

Yuri Gidzenko, born March 26, 1962 in Ukraine, has flown on Soyuz spacecraft and a space shuttle, and has spent time on both Mir and the International Space Station.

His first trip into space was as Commander aboard Soyuz TM-22, launched September 3, 1995 to the space station Mir, as part of the twentieth expedition, Mir EO-20.  He remained on board until February 29, 1996.

His second trip into space was as Commander of Soyuz TM-31, launched October 31, 2000, which carried Sergei Krikalev and William Shepherd (NASA), for the first long-duration ISS crew. Expedition 1.  They returned to Earth aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001.

Gidzenko's third and final flight was Commander aboard Soyuz TM-34, launched April 25, 2002, to the ISS.  Then he remained on ISS for about 10 days and returned aboard Soyuz TM-33 May 5, 2002.

Soyuz TM-31 launched 2000

Soyuz TM-31, launched October 31, 2000, was the first Soyuz spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station.  Aboard were members of Expedition 1, the first long-duration crew for the ISS.

The crew was Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Krikalev and astronaut William Shepherd, who became commander of Expedition 1.

Soyuz TM-31 returned to Earth May 6, 2001.


The best that I could find is this computer animated video about the launch.  It is much better than the computer-generated voice of the other one.