A Soyuz rocket carrying NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin blasts off from Kazakstan on May 14, 2012 (May 15 local time).
Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka (bottom), NASA flight engineer Joe Acaba and flight engineer Sergei Revin (top) wave farewell from the base of their Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly before launching toward the space station on May 14, 2012 (May 15 local time).
This is one of a series of photos taken by Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station, showing a shadow of the moon created by the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse, as the shadow spreads across cloud cover on Earth. Pettit used a 28-mm lens on a digital still camera.
An Orthodox priest blesses members of the media shortly after blessing the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch pad on Monday, May 14, 2012 in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.
The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is seen in silhouette after being rolled out by train to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Sunday, May 13, 2012. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.
This is one of a series of photos taken by Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station, showing a shadow of the moon created by the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse, as the shadow spreads across cloud cover on Earth. Pettit used a 28-mm lens on a digital still camera.
Quarantined Expedition 31 prime crew members, from left, NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, Russian Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Revin pose for a group photograph during a prelaunch press conference held at the Cosmonaut Hotel on Monday, May 14, 2012 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with the crew of three is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.
This is one of a series of photos taken by Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station, showing a shadow of the moon created by the May 20, 2012 solar eclipse, as the shadow spreads across cloud cover on Earth. Pettit used a 28-mm lens on a digital still camera.
The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is raised into position at launch pad ne, Sunday, May 13, 2012. at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin of Russia, and prime NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba is scheduled for 9:01 a.m. local time on Tuesday, May 15.
Expedition 31 crew members take a break from training at NASA's Johnson Space Center to pose for a crew portrait. Image released July 14, 2011.
Thin crescents along the horizons of Earth and its moon depict International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 31. The shape of the patch represents a view of our galaxy. This image was released September 2012.
At the historic museum near the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 31/32 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA adds his name to the "Wall of Signatures." This image was released on May 11, 2012.
Attired in Russian Sokol launch and entry suits, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka (center), Expedition 31 flight engineer and Expedition 32 commander; along with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba (left) and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Revin, both Expedition 31/32 flight engineers, take a break from training in Star City, Russia to pose for a portrait. This image was released Aug. 23, 2011.
NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, Expedition 31/32 flight engineer, participates in a treadmill kinematics baseline data collection session in the Planetary and Earth Sciences Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Renita Fincke assisted Acaba.This image was released March 30, 2011.
NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, Expedition 31/32 flight engineer, participates in an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit fit check in the Space Station Airlock Test Article (SSATA) in the Crew Systems Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This image was released Oct. 19, 2011.
Expedition 31/32 crew members, along with Bonnie Land, pose for a photo during a cake-cutting ceremony in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This image was released Jan. 18, 2012.
Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka (second left), Expedition 31 flight engineer and Expedition 32 commander; along with Russian cosmonaut Sergei Revin (left) and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, both Expedition 31/32 flight engineers, participate in an emergency scenario training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Expedition 30 commander Dan Burbank of NASA, flight engineer Don Pettit of NASA (left) and European Space Agency flight engineer Andre Kuipers (center) discussed the progress of their mission on the International Space Station in a news briefing on April 11, 2012.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 30 flight engineer, poses for a photo with a Russian Orlan spacesuit in the Pirs docking module after a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Feb. 16, 2012. Kononenko is wearing a blue thermal undergarment that complements the Orlan spacesuit.
European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, is pictured near fruit floating freely in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Image released Feb. 16, 2012.
The Soyuz TMA-04M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, seated left, Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, seated right, pose for a picture with their backup crew members Kevin Ford, standing left, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, standing right, just a few hours before their launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-04M on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Padalka, Revin, and Acaba onboard, launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.
Flight Engineer Joe Acaba has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked in preparation for his launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-04M on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Acaba, Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin onboard, launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.
Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, foreground, waves farewell to friends and family as the crew bus departs the Cosmonaut Hotel with fellow Expedition 31 crew members, Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Padalka, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, and Joe Acaba onboard launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.
Much of the Middle East is seen in this night time image photographed by one of the Expedition 31 crew members aboard the International Space Station as it flew some 240 miles above the Mediterranean Sea on June 4, 2012.
This image shows the flame ring associated with wild fires in the Southwest move from bottom to top-center framed at a distance by the bright urban areas of Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso-Las Cruces, and finally Albuquerque (mostly under cloud). It was taken on June 2, 2012.
The Sor Kaydak near the northeast Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 31 crew member on the International Space Station. This image was taken May 11, 2012.
This digital image from the Expedition 31 crew aboard the International Space Station is one of a series from a mounted, automated, and nighttime session of a still camera when viewed in sequence shows the flame-ring associated with wild fires in the Southwest slip by in the upper right while the lights of the El Paso-Las Cruces rise from bottom center. A Russian spacecraft is docked to the station on the June 2, 2012 image.
Expedition 31 crew members share a meal near the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. The image was taken May 18, 2012.
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken April 5, 2012.
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken May 17, 2012.
An autographed photo of the Expedition 31 crew was found by the SpaceX ground teams as they recovered the Dragon spacecraft from the Pacific Ocean after splashdown on May 31, 2012.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko (center), Expedition 31 commander; along with European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers (left) and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, both flight engineers, pose for a photo near a globe floating freely in the Unity node of the International Space Station. This image was taken May 15, 2012.
European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 31 flight engineer, works with Anomalous Long Term Effects on Astronauts (ALTEA) equipment in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station. This image was taken June 8, 2012.
A NASA extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuit is seen in the crew lock of the International Space Station's Quest airlock, as photographed by one of the Expedition 31 crew members on June 14, 2012.
Astronaut Andre Kuipers took this image of solar panels glinting in space. The image was taken June 8, 2012.
This still from a NASA video shows the vast smoke plumes from raging wildfires in Colorado and other U.S. western states as the International Space Station soared overhead. Video released on June 28, 2012.
Expedition 31 commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia (top), Dutch astronaut Andrew Kuipers (center) and NASA astronaut Don Pettit bid farewell to their crewmates on the International Space Station just before shutting the hatches between their Soyuz and the station for a July 1, 2012, return to Earth.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-03M backs away from the International Space Station after undocking to return three members of the Expedition 31 crew to Earth on July 1, 2012, in this still from a NASA broadcast.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-03M backs away from the International Space Station after undocking to return three members of the Expedition 31 crew to Earth on July 1, 2012, in this still from a NASA broadcast.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule descends to Earth under its main parachute to return three Expedition 31 astronauts home from the International Space Station on July 1, 2012. The capsule was landing in southeast Kazakstan in Central Asia.
A Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule makes a pinpoint landing on July 1, 2012, to return three members of the Expedition 31 astronaut crew home from the International Space Station. The capsule landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia.
The view from Russia's Mission Control Center outside Moscow just after a Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft landed in Kazakhstan on July 1, 2012, returning three Expedition 31 crewmembers to Earth from the International Space Station. The words on the the main screen read: "They've Landed!" in Russian.
Expedition 31 commander Oleg Kononenko (center) sits after landing in the Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule behind him as recovery crews work to extract his two crewmates from the spacecraft on July 1, 2012. The capsule landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan after a long-duration mission to the International Space Station.
The Soyuz TMA-03M space capsule that returned to Earth on July 1, 2012 with three astronauts from the International Space Station is shown in this NASA TV still image. The Russian Soyuz TMA-03M landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia to end the Expedition 31 mission.
