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.

Soyuz TM-33 launched 2001

Soyuz TM-33 crew (L-R): Konstantin Kozeyev, Viktor Afansayev, Claudie Haignere

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-33, launched October 21, 2001, carried a new crew and supplies to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afansayev (Roscosmos), Claudie Haignere (ESA) and Konstantin Kozeyev (Roscosmos).  The crew returned to Earth on October 31 on Soyuz TM-32. 

Soyuz TM-33 returned to Earth on May 5, 2002 with Commander Yuri Gidzenko (Roscosmos), Roberto Vittori (ESA) and Mark Shuttleworth, a space tourist from South Africa.

I could not find a video of the launch.

Soyuz TM-22 launched 1995

Soyuz TM-22 crew (L-R): Yuri Gidzenko, Thomas Reiter, Sergei Avdeyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-22, launched September 3, 1995, carried three cosmonauts to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Sergei Avdeyev and Thomas Reiter (ESA).  They docked with Mir on September 5 and returned to Earth February 29, 1996.

Zarya, International Space Station Core, launched 1998

The first building block of the International Space Station, the Zarya module, was launched November 20, 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  Two weeks later, the crew of STS-88 attached the Unity module to Zarya during spacewalks.

At this time, the Russian space station Mir was still occupied so the International Space Station remained uninhabited until Mir was deorbited.  Expedition 1, the first crew to the ISS, arrived in November 2000.  The crew members were  William Shepherd (NASA), Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev (Roscosmos).

The ISS is now permanently manned and currently the crew of Expedition 57, Alexander Gerst (ESA), Serena Aunon-Chancellor (NASA) and Sergey Prokopyev (Roscosmos) is station there.

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).

Soyuz TM-34, with first South African in space, launched 2002

Crew (L-R): Yuri Gidzenko, Mark Shuttleworth, Roberto Vittori

Soyuz TM-34, launched April 25, 2002, was the fourth Soyuz mission to the International Space Station and carried the first South African into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Gidzenko (Roscomos) and Roberto Vittori (European Space Agency).  Mark Shuttleworth, a space tourist from South Africa, the first from that country in space, was the second self-funded space tourist.

All three returned home on May 5 on Soyuz TM-33.

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.

Discovery (STS-102) launched 2001

Crew of STS-102 

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-102), launched March 8, 2001, was a resupply mission to the International Space Station.  It also rotated the Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews to ISS.  The crew that launched and then returned March 21 consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot James Kelly, mission specialist Andy Thomas and mission specialist Paul Richards.

They carried the members of Expedition 2 to the station, who were Yury Usachov, James Voss and Susan Helms.  Expedition 1, which consisted of William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev.

Endeavour (STS-97) launched 2000

Seated (L-R): Michael Bloomfield, Marc Garneau, Brent Jett

Standing (L-R): Carlos Noriega, Joseph Tanner

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour launched November 30, 2000, carried the first set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Her crew was Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Mission Specialist Joseph Tanner, Mission Specialist Marc Garneau (Canadian Space Agency) and Mission Specialist Carlos Noriega (first Peruvian in space, but this wasn't his first flight). 

On Flight Day 3, Endeavour linked to the ISS.  Joseph Tanner and Carlos Noriega moved through Endeavour's docking tunnel and opened the hatch to the ISS docking port to leave supplies and computer hardware on the "doorstep" of the ISS.

The next day, the crew of Expedition 1, Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, retrieved the items left for them.

Tanner and Noriega performed 3 EVAs to install the solar arrays on the ISS and installed a camera cable outside the Unity Module.

On Flight Day 8, Endeavour's crew met Expedition 1's crew in the ISS.  Up until now, they had kept one hatch closed between the shuttle and the station to maintain respective atmospheres.

Flight Day 9, the crews finished transferring supplies to the station and stuff to be brought back to Earth.  Endeavour landed December 11.




https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-97.html

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.