Expedition 40 was the 40th expedition to the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
. A portion of the
Expedition 39
Expedition 39 was the 39th expedition to the International Space Station. It marked the first time the ISS had been under command of a Japanese astronaut, space veteran Koichi Wakata. After Expedition 21 in 2009 and Expedition 35 in 2013, it wa ...
crew transferred to Expedition 40 while the remainder of the crew launched on May 28, 2014 from
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...
in Kazakhstan.
Upon achieving orbit approximately nine minutes after launch,
Soyuz TMA-13M
Soyuz TMA-13M was a 2014 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 40 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-13M was the 122nd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since 1967, and the 39th Soyuz miss ...
, delivering the remainder of the crew, began a four-orbit rendezvous with the International Space Station. Soyuz TMA-13M subsequently docked with the Rassvet module of the ISS at 1:44 UTC on May 29. Hatches were opened between the two spacecraft just over two hours later at 3:52 UTC. The expedition ended with the undocking of
Soyuz TMA-12M
Soyuz TMA-12M was a 2014 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 39 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-12M was the 121st flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since the first in 1967 and the 38th ...
on September 10, 2014. The remainder of Expedition 40's crew joined
Expedition 41
Expedition 41 was the 41st expedition to the International Space Station. It began on 10 September 2014 with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-12M, returning the crew of Expedition 40
Expedition 40 was the 40th expedition to the International Space St ...
.
Crew
;Source: ESA
Mobile Servicing System
The
Mobile Servicing System
The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...
is a robotic system onboard the ISS used for assembly and maintenance. During Expedition 40, it was used the replace a broken camera on the system's mobile base with a deteriorated but functional camera from the arm, and to in turn place a new camera on the arm. This marked the first self-repair by a robot in space, and is likely to result in reduced need for time consuming and dangerous space walks.
References
External links
NASA's Space Station Expeditions page
Expeditions to the International Space Station
2014 in spaceflight
{{space-stub
