Space Station's Expedition 34 Mission in Pictures (Gallery)

Soyuz TMA-05M Departs International Space Station

NASA

The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft departs from the International Space Station and heads toward a landing in a remote area outside the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Nov. 19, 2012 (Kazakhstan time). NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 33 commander; Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, Soyuz commander and flight engineer; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide, flight engineer, are returning from four months onboard the space station where they served as members of the Expedition 32 and 33 crews.

Soyuz TMA-05M Re-Entry Plasma Streak

NASA

Soyuz TMA-05M (descent module) beginning to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere on Nov. 19 (real time, Nov. 18, U.S. time) leaving a plasma trail as the Expedition 33 crew streaked toward a pre-dawn landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan northeast of Arkalyk.

Expedition 33 Soyuz Launch

NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 33 Soyuz Launch #2

NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 33 Soyuz Launch #3

NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will be on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 33 Soyuz Launch

NASA / RSA

Three new crew members of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft.

Blast Off! Soyuz Rocket Launches Expedition 33/34 Crew

NASA/Bill Ingalls

The Soyuz rocket with Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS onboard the TMA-06M spacecraft launches to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Expedition 33/34 Soyuz Crew Waves at Launch Pad

NASA/Bill Ingalls

Expedition 33/34 crew members, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, bottom, Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS, top, wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz rocket just a few hours before their launch to the International Space Station on Tuesday, October 23, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Expedition 33 Soyuz Blessing

NASA/Bill Ingalls

An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket at the Baikonur Cosmodrome Launch pad on Monday, Oct. 22, 2012 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for October 23 and will send Expedition 33/34 Flight Engineer Kevin Ford of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin of ROSCOSMOS on a five-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Expedition 33/34 Crew Members

NASA

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (left), Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34 commander; along with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy (center) and Evgeny Tarelkin, both Expedition 33/34 flight engineers, pose for a portrait following an Expedition 33/34 preflight press conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Image released July 26, 2012.

Expedition 33/34 Cake-Cutting Ceremony

NASA

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (center), Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34 commander; along with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy (right) and Evgeny Tarelkin, both Expedition 33/34 flight engineers, are pictured during a cake-cutting ceremony in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Image released July 27, 2012.

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