Expedition 31

;Source: NASA{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/oct/HQ_09-233_Space_Station_Crews.html|title= NASA and its International Partners Assign Space Station Crews |access-date=7 October 2009|publisher=NASA|year=2009|author=NASA HQ}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jul/HQ_10-161_New_ISS_Crews.html|title=NASA And Partners Assign Crews For Upcoming Space Station Missions |access-date=8 July 2010|publisher=NASA|year=2010|author=NASA HQ}}[http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMDZZUHYXF_index_0.html ESA astronaut André Kuipers to spend six months on the ISS starting in 2011]{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition31/index.html|title=Expedition 31 crew page|access-date=18 November 2011|publisher=NASA}}

Expedition 31 formally began on 27 April 2012, with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft. Soyuz TMA-22 successfully returned Expedition 30 astronauts Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin to Earth. The ISS was left under the command of astronauts Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit, who had arrived at the station aboard Soyuz TMA-03M on 23 December 2011.

{{Wikinews|Expedition 31 crew members arrive at International Space Station}}

The final three members of Expedition 31 – Acaba, Padalka and Revin – arrived at the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-04M, which launched on 15 May 2012,{{cite web|access-date=2012-05-14|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/living/index.html|title=Three New Crew Members En Route to Station|work=Latest News|publisher=NASA|archive-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602184650/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/living/index.html|url-status=dead}} and docked to the ISS on 17 May at 4:36 UTC.{{cite news|last=Harwood|first=William|title=Three-man crew docks at International Space Station|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/station/exp31/120517dock/|access-date=17 May 2012|newspaper=Spaceflight Now|date=17 May 2012}}

SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft conducted a test rendezvous with the ISS during Expedition 31, as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program; it was the first commercial spacecraft to rendezvous with the ISS. Following a series of delays,{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/19/falcon_launch_aborted/|title=SpaceX Dragon chokes at the last second|work=The Register|date=19 May 2012|access-date=21 May 2012}} Dragon launched on 22 May 2012, and berthed successfully with the ISS on 25 May, after conducting a series of orbital test manoeuvres.{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/15805-spacex-private-capsule-launches-space-station.html|title=SpaceX Launches Private Capsule on Historic Trip to Space Station|publisher=Space.com|date=22 May 2012|author=Clara Moskowitz|author-link=Clara Moskowitz|access-date=8 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18195772|title=Station grabs SpaceX Dragon ship|publisher=BBC|date=25 May 2012}} Dragon carried around {{convert|460|kg|lb}} of cargo to the ISS, including food, clothing, a laptop computer and 15 student experiments. After being loaded with {{convert|660|kg|lb}} of downmass cargo, including completed experiments and redundant equipment, it undocked from the station and returned to Earth on 31 May 2012.{{cite web|url=http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/13755/spacex-dragon-capsule-opens-new-era/|title=SpaceX Dragon Capsule opens new era|agency=Reuters via BusinessTech.co.za|date=28 May 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18273811|title=Splashdown for SpaceX Dragon spacecraft|publisher=BBC|date=31 May 2012}} Dragon landed intact in the Pacific Ocean and was successfully recovered, allowing SpaceX to begin regular cargo flights to the ISS.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/science/space/first-spacex-dragon-cargo-flight-ends-with-a-splash.html|title=Its First Mission Done, SpaceX Looks to More Private Flights|work=The New York Times|date=31 May 2012|access-date=5 June 2012}} The first such logistics mission, CRS SpX-1, launched successfully in October 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/08/spacex-conduct-successful-wdr-falcon-9/|title=SpaceX conduct successful WDR on their latest Falcon 9|last=Bergin|first=Chris|date=31 August 2012|publisher=NASASpaceFlight.com|access-date=15 September 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/17943-spacex-dragon-capsule-space-cargo-launch.html|title=Liftoff! SpaceX Dragon Launches 1st Private Space Station Cargo Mission|publisher=Space.com|date=8 October 2012}}

Soyuz TMA-03M departed from the ISS on 1 July 2012, successfully returning Kononenko, Kuipers and Pettit to Earth. Their departure marked the formal end of Expedition 31, and the beginning of Expedition 32.

In the 2012 The Big Bang Theory episode "The Friendship Contraction", character Howard Wolowitz reveals that he will be a member of a fictionalized version of Expedition 31, alongside Dimitri Rezinov, a character created for the show, and Mike Massimino, playing a fictional version of himself.{{cite episode|title=The Friendship Contraction|episode-link=The Big Bang Theory (season 5)#ep102|series=The Big Bang Theory|series-link=The Big Bang Theory|airdate=2 February 2012|season=5|number=15|minutes=02:20}}

File:Soyuz TMA-22 departs from the ISS.jpg|Soyuz TMA-22 departs the ISS on 27 April 2012, marking the beginning of Expedition 31.

File:Expedition 31 Orthodox blessing.jpg|An Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz rocket on 14 May 2012.

File:Expedition 31 crew wave goodbye.jpg|The Expedition 31 crew wave goodbye before the launch on 15 May 2012.

File:Expedition 31 launch.jpg|The launch of Soyuz TMA-04M on 15 May 2012.

File:COTS2Dragon.2..jpg|SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft approaches the ISS on 25 May 2012.

File:ISS crew inside Dragon C2.jpg|Expedition 31 posing inside the docked Dragon capsule on 29 May 2012.

{{Include-NASA}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|ISS Expedition 31}}

• [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/index.html NASA's Space Station Expeditions page]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbLHgGbzTZI& End of Expedition 30/Beginning of Expedition 31 video]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJcV_kWIR2A& Expedition 30/31 – Change of Command Ceremony video]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66QFmmkct7k& End of Expedition 31/Beginning of Expedition 32 video]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRwSH_u0Ll0 Expedition 31/32 – Change of Command Ceremony video]
• [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-31/ndxpage1.html Expedition 31 Photography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703061847/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-31/ndxpage1.html |date=3 July 2012 }}

{{ISS expeditions}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}

Category:Expeditions to the International Space Station

Category:2012 in spaceflight