Expedition 9

Mission objectives

Expedition 9 officially began on 29 April 2004, after Padalka and Fincke took over from Expedition 8. They had arrived at the station on 21 April with ESA astronaut André Kuipers.

Following a week of joint work, Foale and Kaleri departed with Kuipers aboard Soyuz TMA-3. Kuipers' 11-day visit was a commercial deal between ESA and Russia's space agency. The mission also hosted the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Project.

Mission patch

The Expedition 9 patch honors fallen space explorers. An eagle's outstretched wings display sixteen stars and one Star of David, representing the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger's STS-51L, and Columbia's STS-107.

A large red star and four smaller red stars encircle the eagle's neck. The large star commemorates Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, who died in a training accident. The four smaller stars stand for Vladimir Komarov of Soyuz 1 and the Soyuz 11 crew: Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, and Vladislav Volkov.

Did You Know?

• All four spacewalks were based out of the Pirs Docking Compartment and used Russian Orlan spacesuits.
• Before these four EVAs, 52 spacewalks had been performed at the ISS, with 27 based out of the Station.