Expedition 42

Long-duration mission to the International Space Station

ISS Expedition 42
Expedition
Promotional Poster

Mission type	ISS Expedition


Space station	International Space Station
Began	10 November 2014 (2014-11-10Z) UTC
Ended	11 March 2015 (2015-03-12Z) UTC
Arrived aboard	Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz TMA-15M
Departed aboard	Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz TMA-15M


Crew
Crew size	6
Members	Expedition 41/42: Barry E. Wilmore Aleksandr Samokutyayev Yelena Serova Expedition 42/43: Anton Shkaplerov Samantha Cristoforetti Terry W. Virts

Expedition 42 mission patch (l-r) Serova, Wilmore, Samokutyayev, Shkaplerov, Virts and Cristoforetti ISS expeditions ← Expedition 41 Expedition 43 →

Expedition 42 was the 42nd expedition to the International Space Station. It began on 10 November 2014 with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-13M, returning the crew of Expedition 41 to Earth and ended with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-14M on 11 March 2015.^[1]

Crew

Position	First Part (November 2014)	Second Part (November 2014 to March 2015)
Commander	Barry E. Wilmore, NASA Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1	Aleksandr Samokutyayev, RSA Second and last spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2	Yelena Serova, RSA Only spaceflight
Flight Engineer 3		Anton Shkaplerov, RSA Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 4		Samantha Cristoforetti, ASI-ESA First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 5		Terry W. Virts, NASA Second and last spaceflight

Source: Spacefacts^[2]

Mission

One of the key aspects of Mission 42 - and other missions in 2015 - is the preparation (that is, reconfiguration) of parts of the ISS to allow commercial space taxis to dock at the station. The mission requires several space walks in 2015 to prepare a berthing slip is being prepared at the forward end of the Harmony connecting node where Space Shuttles formerly docked, and another on Harmony's zenith port. These new ports will allow for the Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon capsules to dock at the ISS. The first paid passengers are expected to arrive in 2019.^[3]

Gallery

New docking ports for CST-100 capsule.
New docking ports for Dragon capsule.

In popular culture

A fictionalized version of Expedition 42 is depicted in the 2013 film Gravity. The crew, never shown, is forced to evacuate the International Space Station in a Soyuz capsule before the orbital debris arrive.^[4]
To commemorate the Expedition number's connection to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comic science fiction franchise, the crew released a poster in the style of the 2005 film.^[5]

References

^ "Expedition 41 Departs from Station in Soyuz". NASA.gov. 9 November 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
^ "Upcoming ISS expeditions". Spacefacts. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
^ Klotz, Irene (19 February 2015). "NASA Gearing Up to Reassemble the Space Station". Discovery Communications, LLC. Diecovery News. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
^ "'Gravity' movie mission patches shaped by real space history | collectSPACE".
^ Sam Cristoforetti [@AstroSamantha] (September 23, 2014). "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! The Expedition 42 poster! #42istheanswer And yes, we really really love it!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.