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 (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.
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.
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.
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.
Three new crew members of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (second right), Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34 commander; along with Russian cosmonauts Evgeny Tarelkin (left) and Oleg Novitskiy, both Expedition 33/34 flight engineers, participate in a routine operations training session in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Crew instructor Clinton Balmain (right) assisted the crew members. Photo released July 20, 2012.
NASA astronaut Kevin Ford, Expedition 33 flight engineer and Expedition 34 commander, 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. Technicians assisted Ford. Image released June 25, 2012.
A small toy hippo with the Cyrillic word for "Russia" hangs inside the Soyuz TMA-06 space capsule to serve as a zero-g indicator for Expedition 33/34 crewmembers Oleg Novitskiy, Kevin Ford and Evgeny Tarelkin during their Oct. 23, 2012, launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The toy was a gift to Novitskiy, Soyuz commander, by his teenage daughter Yana
A small toy hippo hangs inside the Soyuz TMA-06 space capsule to serve as a zero-g indicator for Expedition 33/34 crewmembers Oleg Novitskiy, Kevin Ford and Evgeny Tarelkin during their Oct. 23, 2012, launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The toy was a gift to Novitskiy, Soyuz commander, by his teenage daughter Yana
