Expedition 28

Expedition 28 was the 28th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station, and began on 23 May 2011 with the departure of the members of Expedition 27. The first three members of Expedition 28 arrived on the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft on 4 April 2011, and were joined on 9 June 2011 by the three other crew members, who arrived aboard Soyuz TMA-02M. The expedition saw a number of significant events, including the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, which took place in July 2011. Expedition 28 was superseded by Expedition 29 on 16 September 2011.

Crew

;Source: NASA

Mission highlights

Soyuz TMA-20 undocking

Expedition 28 began with the undocking and departure of the crew of Expedition 27 on 23 May 2011 at 21:35 UTC. The crew of Soyuz TMA-20 landed safely with Expedition 27 crew members Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli aboard at 2:27 UTC on 24 May.

Before departing the vicinity of the International Space Station, the crew of TMA-20 photographed the exterior of the station during a fly-around, capturing photos of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' docked with the ISS on its final mission, STS-134.

STS-134

At the time Expedition 28 began, Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' was docked to the ISS on her final mission, STS-134. During this mission, the crew of ''Endeavour'' installed on the station's exterior the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and several spare parts to aid in station operations after the retirement of the Space Shuttle. STS-134 was the 36th Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

''Endeavour'' and her crew, consisting of Mark Kelly, Gregory Johnson, Michael Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel, and Gregory Chamitoff, returned to Earth on 1 June 2011, at 6:34 UTC. STS-134 was the second-to-last mission of the Space Shuttle.

Soyuz TMA-02M docking

The remainder of the Expedition 28 crew ( Sergey Volkov, Michael E. Fossum, and Satoshi Furukawa) launched aboard Soyuz TMA-02M from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 20:12 UTC on 7 June 2011. Originally scheduled to dock to the ISS on 9 June at approximately 21:22 UTC, the Soyuz did so several minutes early at 21:18.

''Johannes Kepler'' ATV undocking

On 20 June 2011, the European Space Agency's robotic cargo ship ''Johannes Kepler'' disengaged from the ISS, having been docked since February 2011. On 21 June 2011, the ATV was deorbited, burning up in the atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean at around 22:44 CET.ESA ATV blog
Retrieved 21 June 2011.

Progress M-11M docking

A Russian Progress cargo ship, designated M-11M (Progress 42 or 42P by NASA) was launched on 21 June 2011 to resupply and deliver equipment to the International Space Station. Progress M-11M transferred more than 2.5 tons of cargo to the Space Station, including food, water, scientific hardware, propellant, and cargo. The cargo ship docked with the Zvezda service module of the Space Station at 16:37 UTC on 23 June 2011. The docking occurred 245 miles above eastern Kazakhstan.

STS-135—final space shuttle mission

On 8 July 2011, Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' launched on the STS-135 mission, the final mission in NASA's Space Shuttle program. ''Atlantis'' docked to the ISS on 10 July 2011 at 15:07 UTC. The mission was crewed by NASA astronauts Christopher Ferguson, Douglas Hurley, Sandra Magnus, and Rex Walheim, and departed from the ISS on 19 July 2011. The purpose of the mission was to deliver the ''Raffaello'' MPLM, stocked with supplies, to the space station.

Soyuz TMA-21 undocking

The Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft departed from the International Space Station on 16 September 2011 at 00:38 UTC.After 162 days aboard, @Astro_Ron & Expedition 28 crew undocked from space station at 8:38pmET to begin their voyage home. Soyuz Commander Aleksandr Samokutyayev and Flight Engineers Andrei Borisenko and Ronald Garan returned to Earth on 16 September at 03:59 UTC, landing safely in central Kazakhstan. Their landing marked the beginning of Expedition 29.

Spacewalks

Gallery

Image:Expedition 28 Fossum EMU NBL.jpg, Fossum in a training version of his spacesuit, during a training session in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory near NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Image:Expedition 28 Crew Departs Star City.jpg, Furukawa (left) (Volkov (center), and Fossum answer reporters' questions during a press conference held on the grounds of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, in Star City, Russia.
Image:Soyuz TMA-02M Launch Expedition 28.jpg, The Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft launches on 8 June 2011.
File:Aurora Australis.ogv, Video of the aurora australis taken 17 September 2011 from 17:22:27 to 17:45:12 GMT, on an ascending pass from south of Madagascar to just north of Australia over the Indian Ocean
Image:Furukawa Expedition 28.jpg, Furukawa aboard the ISS.
Image:ISS and Endeavour seen from the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft 07.jpg, Photograph taken by the departing Expedition 27 crew of ''Endeavour'' docked to the ISS for the final time.
Image:Volkov Expedition 28 Russian EVA 29.jpg, Volkov conducts a spacewalk.
Image:Garan Sunrise.jpg, Image of an orbital sunrise taken by Garan.
Image:Expedition 28 Lands.jpg, Expedition 28 lands.

References

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External links

NASA's Space Station Expeditions page

{{Use British English, date=August 2010

Expeditions to the International Space Station
2011 in spaceflight
Articles containing video clips