Traveling to the Space Station

On October 31, 2000, the ISS was ready for the arrival of the first astronauts, who came in a Russian Soyuz craft. Expedition One, the first ISS crew, con­sisted of U. S. commander Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yury Gidzenko and Sergey Krikalyov.

The first crew remained in orbit until March 2001, when Expedition Two arrived in the Space Shuttle Discovery. The crews changed places, and the Expedition One astronauts made a safe return to Earth. The Expedition Two crew remained on the space station until August 2001. Since then, regular exchanges of personnel have been made to maintain a constant three-person crew at the ISS.

О An unpiloted Progress spacecraft approaches the ISS in January 2007, carrying food, fuel, oxy­gen, and other supplies for the ISS crew. Progress spacecraft are destroyed after one mission by burning up on reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Today, transportation to and from Earth is supplied by the U. S. Space Shuttle, which will be replaced in the future by the Orion space vehicle. A new Russian shuttle, a European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), and a sim­ilar shuttle spacecraft built by Japan also will take people and supplies to and from the ISS. In addition to the Space Shuttle flights needed to transport new components, fuel, and astro­nauts, unmanned Progress spacecraft arrive at regular intervals to bring supplies and remove waste. Visiting space­craft dock with the ISS, and crew members transfer to the station through an airlock.