Expedition 1: The First Crew Aboard the ISS and Its 136-Day Stay
The short version
Expedition 1 was the first resident crew of the International Space Station: NASA astronaut William Shepherd and cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. They launched in Soyuz TM-31 from Baikonur on October 31, 2000, docked automatically on November 2, 2000, and stayed 136 days. They returned on Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-102, and the station has been continuously occupied since.
Full written account
On November 2, 2000, three people floated through a hatch into the International Space Station, and the station has never been empty since. They were Expedition 1: NASA astronaut William Shepherd, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. What did it take to make that first stay the start of an unbroken chain?
Launch and chase
Shepherd was the commander of the whole station. Gidzenko was the Soyuz commander who flew the crew there, and Krikalev was the flight engineer. On October 31, 2000, Soyuz TM-31 lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 07:52 UTC, from Gagarin's Start, the same pad Yuri Gagarin used in 1961.
For two days the capsule chased the station around the Earth, closing in orbit by orbit. The final approach was automatic. On November 2, 2000, at 09:21 UTC, the capsule docked itself with no hands on the controls. That was 4:21 in the morning Eastern time.
Three rooms
The crew entered a station nobody had lived in. It had three modules:
- Zarya, launched in November 1998, built in Russia, the station's first piece, providing power and storage.
- Unity, from December 1998, the connecting hallway where modules meet.
- Zvezda, added in July 2000, holding the bedroom, kitchen and life support.
Their job was activation: turning on life support and testing the air, water and power, none of which had been tested with people inside.
Not the first, but the first that never ended
Expedition 1 were not the first people to live on a space station. Salyut crews lived in orbit in the 1970s and 80s, and Mir was occupied almost continuously for nearly a decade until 1999. What set November 2, 2000 apart was that it began a stay with no gaps in crew presence.
Building and living aboard
Three shuttle crews visited during their stay, bringing girders, panels and solar wings. Meals came in packets and sleep in bags strapped to the wall. The crew exercised every day against the effects of weightlessness on bone and muscle. Houston and Moscow control rooms watched over them. The station orbits the planet about every 90 minutes, with 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.
Handover
After 136 days, Expedition 2 arrived. On March 19, 2001, Expedition 1 undocked and returned aboard space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-102, landing on March 21, 2001. One crew has left only when the next had arrived. Today the station weighs more than 400 tons, hosts crews of up to seven, and has solar wings stretching about the length of a football field. A retirement is planned.
Questions this video answers
Who made up Expedition 1?
NASA astronaut William Shepherd as commander, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko as Soyuz commander, and Sergei Krikalev as flight engineer.
When and where did they launch?
On October 31, 2000, at 07:52 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from Gagarin's Start, aboard Soyuz TM-31.
When did they dock?
On November 2, 2000, at 09:21 UTC; the docking was automatic.
Which modules were there when they arrived?
Zarya, Unity and Zvezda.
How long did they stay and how did they return?
136 days. They undocked on March 19, 2001, and came home on Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-102, landing March 21, 2001.
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