Earlier today, a massive Soyuz rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying three crew member to the International Space Station (ISS). They will join three others already in orbit. The full six-member crew makes up Expedition 27, the 27th long-duration ISS mission, which will last six months, beginning on March 16, 2011. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the historic flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin -- the first-ever human in spaceflight -- on April 12, and as we near the end of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, here is a look at the most recent ISS expedition, Expedition 26, along with the Earth-based support efforts from both the U.S. and Russia. During this expedition, the crew performed dozens of experiments, a new module was attached, and the Space Shuttle Discovery made its final visit. Expedition 26 began last November; it was led by Commander Scott Kelly, brother-in-law of Gabrielle Giffords, the U.S. Congresswoman who was gravely injured in a January assassination attempt.
The International Space Station: Expedition 26
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Read moreThe Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-21 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, April 5, 2011. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Ron Garan , Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokytyaev and Andrei Borisenko. #
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Read moreRussian cosmonaut Alexandr Samokutyaev adjusts the controls in the cabin of a centrifuge used for training at the Star City space center on February 21, 2011. #
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Read moreOne of the next crew members of the International Space Station (ISS), US astronaut Ron Garan, smiles on March 5, 2011 before a final preflight practical exam in a training model of the Russia-built Soyuz TMA spacecraft at the Space Training Center in Star City outside Moscow. #
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Read moreEuropean Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli and NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman, both Expedition 26 flight engineers, operate the Canadarm2 controls inside the International Space Station's Cupola to relocate the Japanese Kounotori2 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV2) from the Harmony node nadir port to Harmony's zenith port on February 18th, 2011. #
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Read moreNASA astronaut Cady Coleman, Expedition 26/27 flight engineer, opens the container that holds Robonaut 2, the dexterous humanoid astronaut helper, in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station on March 15th, 2011. #
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Read moreA night view of the Montreal metropolitan area is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 26 crew member on the International Space Station on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2010. The International Space Station was located over the Pennsylvania-New York border (near Warren, Pennsylvania) at the time this image was taken-a ground distance of approximately 600 kilometers southwest of Montreal. #
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Read moreRussian support personnel work to help get crew members out of the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft shortly after the capsule landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Wednesday, March 16, 2011. #
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Read moreAn Orthodox priest blesses specialists and the Russian Soyuz TMA-21 space ship that will carry new crew to the international space station at the launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome oin Kazakhstan on Sunday, April 3, 2011. #
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Read moreThe Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-21 space ship, carrying Expedition 27 crew members to the ISS flies in the sky above the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, April 5, 2011. #
AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky
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