ISS Expedition 9

Mission Profile

Overview

Expedition 9 kept the International Space Station crewed during the bleak post-Columbia era, when the grounded Space Shuttle fleet had cut the resident crew to just two. Russian commander Gennady Padalka, on his second flight, and American flight engineer Mike Fincke, on his first, launched aboard Soyuz TMA-4 alongside ESA astronaut André Kuipers, who flew the Netherlands' DELTA research mission and returned after eleven days. For six months Padalka and Fincke ran the orbiting outpost almost single-handed, conducting four demanding Russian Orlan spacewalks totalling nearly sixteen hours to repair a failed power-channel gyroscope circuit and service external science. Fincke's daughter was born while he was in orbit. The pair came home in October 2004, having proved a two-person caretaker crew could sustain the station through a crisis.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 2004-04-19

   Soyuz TMA-4 launches from Baikonur with Padalka, Fincke and ESA's André Kuipers

2. 2004-04-21

   Soyuz docks with the ISS; Expedition 9 increment begins

3. 2004-06-24

   First Expedition 9 spacewalk cut short by an Orlan suit oxygen issue; later EVAs restore a failed power gyroscope circuit

4. 2004-10-24

   Soyuz TMA-4 lands in Kazakhstan, ending the 188-day flight

Key Achievements

• Sustained the ISS as a two-person caretaker crew through the post-Columbia Shuttle stand-down

• Conducted four Russian Orlan spacewalks (nearly 16 hours) to restore a failed station power channel

• Padalka's second flight and the start of his record-setting ISS commanding career

Related Missions

Sources

1. Wikipedia — Expedition 9
2. Wikipedia — Soyuz TMA-4
3. ESA — DELTA mission docks with ISS