ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli tours the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli tours the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli tours the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli sits on a couch where Archibald Henderson, the 5th Commandant of the Marine Corps passed away in 1859, during a tour of the Home of the Commandants, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik thanks Marines for the tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, center, wife Rebecca, right, and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli tour the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, right, and his wife Rebecca tour the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik signs the guest book before touring the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, right, and his wife Rebecca tour the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik and wife Rebecca tour the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
iss063e094249 (Sept. 24, 2020) --- The Soyuz MS-16 crew ship is pictured docked to the International Space Station's Poisk module. The is the same spacecraft that launched, and will bring home, Expedition 63 Commander Chris Cassidy, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner.
JSC2001-E-04806 (21 February 2001) --- Astronaut Kenneth D. Cockrell, mission commander, speaks to a crowd at the welcome home ceremony for the five STS-98 astronauts.
Onboard Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-62) Mission commander John H. Casper (right) and Mission specialist Charles (Sam) Gemar prepare to take pictures of their home planet.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik stands on the center point after a tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, left, and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, right, pose for a photo outside the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
S68-56045 (26 Dec. 1968) --- Television viewers saw this picture of Earth during the sixth live telecast from the Apollo 8 spacecraft as it continued its journey home. At the time this picture was made, the Apollo 8 spacecraft, with astronauts Frank Borman, commander; James A. Lovell Jr., command module pilot; and William A. Anders, lunar module pilot, aboard, was about 97,000 nautical miles from Earth, and was traveling at a speed of 6,084 feet per second. As the spacecraft continued its trans-Earth course, the Apollo 8 crew noted that "Earth was getting larger" and that they were looking forward to being home.
Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Science Officer Michael Foale, left, European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain, second left and Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri along with Gen. Valery Korzun, the Chief of the Cosmonaut Corps, front right, watch home videos aboard the bus transporting the crew to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003 prior to the crew's launch to the Interrnational Space Station. The viewing of home videos on the bus is one of many prelaunch traditions for all departing crews. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft lies passively on its side March 16 after bringing home Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin to a landing northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan following a one-day delay due to inclement weather in the area. The Soyuz initially landed upright before being tilted on its side for servicing after touching down to wrap up 144 days in space and 142 days for Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin at the International Space Station. The three crewmembers were flown by helicopter to Kustanai, Kazakhstan en route to their homes in Houston and Star City, Russia. Courtesy of Sergey Vigovskiy
Expedition 8 Soyuz Commander Alexander Kaleri, clockwise from lower left, Gen. Valery Korzun, the Chief of the Cosmonaut Corps, Commander and NASA Science Officer Michael Foale and European Space Agency astronaut Pedro Duque of Spain watch home videos aboard the bus transporting the crew to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2003, prior to the crew's launch to the Interrnational Space Station. The viewing of home videos on the bus is one of many prelaunch traditions for all departing crews. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 33 flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko, left, is welcomed home upon his arrival in Star City, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012 in Russia. Malenchenko, Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams and JAXA flight engineer Akihiko Hoshide landed in their Soyuz TMA-05M earlier that day in a remote area outside of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. They returned home from four months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 32 and 33 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S66-32677 (10 June 1966) --- The Gemini-9A prime crew, astronaut Thomas P. Stafford (left), command pilot, and Eugene A. Cernan (right), pilot, express their feelings about being home to their families, MSC officials, newsmen, and well-wishers gathered at Ellington Air Force Base to welcome the astronauts home. Astronaut Stafford and Cernan completed their three-day mission in space on June 6, 1966. At right is George M. Low, MSC Deputy Director. Photo credit: NASA
Expedition 32 Commander is welcomed home upon his arrival in Star City, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012 in Russia. Padalka, NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Revin landed in their Soyuz TMA-04M earlier that day in a remote area outside of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. They returned home from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-82 Mission Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox greets media representatives after arrival at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. Bowersox and the other six members of the STS-82 crew came from their home base at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to spend the last few days before launch at KSC. STS-82 is scheduled for liftoff on Feb. 11 during a 65-minute launch window that opens at 3:56 a.m. EST. The 10-day flight aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery will be the second Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - STS-82 Payload Commander Mark C. Lee prepares to step down from the T-38 jet he flew from an air field serving the astronauts' home base at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, to KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. Lee and the other six members of the STS-82 crew will spend the last few days before launch at KSC. STS-82 is scheduled for liftoff on Feb. 11 during a 65-minute launch window that opens at 3:56 a.m. EST. The 10-day flight aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery will be the second Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik speaks to a Marine about his time onboard the International Space Station after a tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik speaks to Marines about his time onboard the International Space Station after a tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli speaks to Marines about his time onboard the International Space Station after a tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
JSC2006-E-46700 (26 Oct. 2006) --- Cosmonaut Pavel V. Vinogradov (right), Expedition 13 commander representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, assisted by interpreter Irina Yashkova, speaks from the lectern in the ballroom of the Gilruth Center at Johnson Space Center during the welcome home ceremony for the Expedition 13 crewmembers.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik speaks to Marines about his time onboard the International Space Station after a tour of the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
JSC2006-E-46687 (26 Oct. 2006) --- Cosmonaut Pavel V. Vinogradov (left), Expedition 13 commander representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, and astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, NASA space station science officer and flight engineer, are pictured at the Gilruth Center at Johnson Space Center during their welcome home ceremony.
S69-34969 (24 May 1969) --- Astronaut Thomas P. Stafford, Apollo 10 commander, is seen in this color reproduction taken from a telecast made by the color television camera aboard the Apollo 10 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik, right, and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, left, speak to Marines about their time onboard the International Space Station after touring the Home of the Commandants of the Marine Corps, Monday, May 7, 2018 in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)
S120-E-008853 (4 Nov. 2007) --- Astronauts Peggy Whitson (left), Expedition 16 commander, and Pam Melroy, STS-120 commander, exchange handshakes in the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) of the International Space Station as the STS-120 crewmembers exit the station to board Space Shuttle Discovery for their return trip home. Hatches were closed between the station and the shuttle at 2:03 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 4.
S120-E-008866 (4 Nov. 2007) --- Astronaut Pam Melroy (left), STS-120 commander, and Peggy Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, pose for a photo in the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) of the International Space Station as the STS-120 crewmembers exit the station to board Space Shuttle Discovery for their return trip home. Hatches were closed between the station and the shuttle at 2:03 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 4.
Women in ceremonial Kazakh dress prepare to welcome home Expedition 34 Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, and Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy at the Kustanay Airport a few hours after they landed near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Tarelkin, Ford, and Novitskiy, returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
iss056e186451 (Sept. 24, 2018) --- (From left) Expedition 56 Commander Drew Feustel of NASA and Soyuz MS-08 Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos practice on a computer the Soyuz descent procedures they will use when they return to Earth on Oct. 4. NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold (out of frame) will join the duo for the ride home inside the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft ending the Expedition 56 mission.
S120-E-008852 (4 Nov. 2007) --- Astronauts Peggy Whitson (left), Expedition 16 commander, and Pam Melroy, STS-120 commander, exchange handshakes in the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) of the International Space Station as the STS-120 crewmembers exit the station to board Space Shuttle Discovery for their return trip home. Hatches were closed between the station and the shuttle at 2:03 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 4.
S126-E-012184 (27 Nov. 2008) --- The astronaut class of 1996 was able to have its own mini-reunion with three members of that group sharing home improvement and other duties aboard the International Space Station over the last two weeks. From left, astronauts Donald Pettit, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper and Michael Fincke pose for a photo on the middeck of Endeavour on the eve of the day the crews of the space shuttle and the orbital outpost's Expedition 18 went separate ways. Fincke, Expedition 18 commander, later stayed behind on the orbital outpost as Stefanyshyn-Piper and Pettit and the rest of the shuttle crew bade farewell with plans of being home on Nov. 30.
The The Soyuz TMA-4 vehicle blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Monday, April 19, 2004 carrying Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer and NASA International Space Station Science Officer Michael Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands to the International Space Station. Padalka and Fincke will spend six months on the Station, while Kuipers returns home April 30 with the Expedition 8 crew members. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) vehicle blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Monday, April 19, 2004 carrying Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Mike Fincke and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands to the International Space Station. Padalka and Fincke will spend six months on the Station, while Kuipers returns home April 30 with the Expedition 8 crew members. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) answers questions from the media during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Wakata, Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Russian “Rosaviatsa” Search and Recovery Forces all-terrain vehicles and a helicopter stand beside the Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft March 16 just hours after Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin safely landed northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan following a one-day delay due to inclement weather in the area. The three crewmembers were quickly extracted from the Soyuz after landing and were flown in helicopters to Kustanai, Kazakhstan en route to their respective homes in Houston and Star City, Russia following 144 days in space and 142 days aboard the International Space Station. Courtesy of Sergey Vigovskiy
AS13-60-8588 (17 April 1970) --- This photograph of Earth was taken from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Apollo 13 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home. The most visible land mass includes southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The peninsula of Baja California is clearly seen. Most of the land area is under heavy cloud cover. The Apollo 13 crew consisted of astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., commander; John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot; and Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot.
Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) answers questions from the media during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Wakata, Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S126-E-008894 (21 Nov. 2008) --- This image, recorded in the late evening hours of Nov. 21, Houston time, shows a smiling astronaut Michael Fincke, Expedition 18 commander, as he and his station crew near the mid point of joint efforts with the Endeavour crew, commanded by astronaut Chris Ferguson (out of frame). The two crews are spending close to two weeks in space together, accomplishing home improvement chores and a number of other tasks. Just a few hours after this photo was taken, two astronauts started prepping for the joint crews' third spacewalk of the week.
Expedition 39 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA answers questions from the media during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Mastracchio, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, second from left, is welcomed home by family, friends, and government officials at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Tyurin, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft earlier in the day near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is seen wearing a ceremonial Kazakh hat and robe and holding a matryoshka doll presented to him during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Wakata, Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
ISS042E325661 (03/11/2015) ---Three crew members of Expedition 42 prepare to return to Earth on Mar. 11, 2015 after a 167-day mission on the International Space Station. Expedition 42 commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) board the returning spacecraft. US NASA astronaut Terry Virts who will stay on as Commander of Expedition 43 tweeted this image of the crew boarding the Soyuz for the ride home. Cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev whose nickname is "Sasha" was last on. The Tweet had this comment "Sasha closing the hatch- пока Саш.".
Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos is seen wearing a ceremonial Kazakh hat and robe presented to him during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) answers questions from the media during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Wakata, Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Family, friends, and government officials wait to welcome home Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos at the Chkalovsky airport outside Star City, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2014. Tyurin, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft earlier in the day near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S69-39724 (22 July 1969) --- Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Apollo 11 lunar module pilot, performs for his Earth-bound television audience, in this color reproduction taken from a TV transmission, from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey home from the moon. Aldrin illustrates how to make a sandwich under zero-gravity conditions. When this picture was made, Apollo 11 was approximately 137,000 nautical miles from Earth, traveling at a speed of about 4,300 feet per second. Also, aboard the spacecraft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; and Michael Collins, command module pilot.
Expedition 39 Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA is presented with a box of Karaganda chocolates during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Mastracchio, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA poses for a photograph after receiving welcome home gifts at the Kustanay Airport in Kazakhstan a few hours after he, along with Expedition 34 Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy, and Russian Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin, landed their Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft near the town of Arkalyk on Saturday, March 16, 2013. Ford, Novitskiy, and, Tarelkin returned from 142 days onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 33 and 34 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S70-35747 (20 April 1970) --- The three crew men of the problem plagued Apollo 13 mission are photographed during the first day of their postflight debriefing activity at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). Left to right, are astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., commander; John L. Swigert Jr., command module pilot; and Fred W. Haise Jr., lunar module pilot. The apparent rupture of oxygen tank number two in the Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) and the subsequent damage forced the three astronauts to use the Lunar Module (LM) as a "lifeboat" to return home safely after their moon landing was canceled.
Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos smiles during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 39 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos answers questions from the media during a welcome home ceremony, Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan. Tyurin, Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA landed in their Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft just a few hours earlier near the town of Zhezkazgan. Wakata, Tyurin and Mastracchio returned to Earth after more than six months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 38 and 39 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S72-31047 (March 1972) --- Astronaut Thomas K. Mattingly II (right foreground), command module pilot of the Apollo 16 lunar landing mission, participates in extravehicular activity (EVA) training in Building 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC). Mattingly is scheduled to perform EVA during the Apollo 16 journey home from the moon. Astronaut John W. Young, commander, can be seen in the left background. In the right background is astronaut Charles M. Duke Jr., lunar module pilot. They are inside the Apollo Command Module Mission Simulator. While Mattingly remains with the Apollo 16 Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit, Young and Duke will descend in the Lunar Module (LM) to the moon's Descartes landing site.
JSC2011-E-040204 (2 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, prepares for departure from Moffett Field in a T-38 trainer home to Houston after the crew of STS-135 trained in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. on March 2, 2011, Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In the Shuttle Plaza area at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, STS-135 Commander Chris Ferguson speaks during the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the future home of space shuttle Atlantis. Delaware North Parks & Resorts, in partnership with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, broke ground for the 65,000 square-foot exhibit that will house Atlantis at the visitor complex. For more information, visit www.KennedySpaceCenter.com. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
ISS006-E-45809 (14 April 2003) --- Attired in their Russian Sokol suits, the Expedition Six crewmembers are pictured in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS) as they rehearse for their return flight home onboard the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft scheduled for May 3, 2003. From the left are cosmonaut Nikolai M. Budarin, flight engineer; astronauts Donald R. Pettit, NASA ISS science officer, and Kenneth D. Bowersox, mission commander. Budarin represents Rosaviakosmos.
This illustration is the Lunar Module (LM) configuration. The LM was a two part spacecraft. Its lower or descent stage had the landing gear, engines, and fuel needed for the landing. When the LM blasted off the Moon, the descent stage served as the launching pad for its companion ascent stage, which was also home for the two astronauts on the surface of the Moon. The LM was full of gear with which to communicate, navigate, and rendezvous. It also had its own propulsion system, and an engine to lift it off the Moon and send it on a course toward the orbiting Command Module.
JSC2011-E-068773 (22 July 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, listens as a crewmate addresses the crowd during a July 22 welcome home ceremony for the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis at Ellington Field in Houston. STS-135 is the final mission of the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – In Orbiter Processing Facility-1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, former NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, who in 1969 became the first man to set foot on the moon, sits in the commander's seat of space shuttle Atlantis. Atlantis is being prepared for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and is scheduled to rollover to the complex in November. The visitor complex is targeting a July 2012 grand opening for Atlantis’ new home. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
S72-49970 (29 Sept. 1972) --- Astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission, is suited up in preparation for extravehicular activity training in a water tank in Building 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Evans is scheduled to perform trans-Earth extravehicular activity after the Apollo 17 spacecraft leaves lunar orbit on its way back home.
Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, left, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, right, are seen in front of a statue of Yuri Gagarin at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia as part of a traditional welcome home ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. The crew landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan on November 22nd after spending five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
S119-E-010711 (27 March 2009) --- From left, astronaut Lee Archambault, STS-119 commander, along with astronauts Joseph Acaba and John Phillips, both mission specialists, busy themselves with various chores on the aft deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Discovery. The three, along with four other astronauts, are in the midst of their final full day in space before a scheduled return home on March 28.
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel V. Vinogradov and Science Officer and Flight Engineer Jeffrey N. Williams began their mission Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST, (Thursday, March 30, 2006, 8:30 a.m. Kazakhstan time). They launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-8 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Joining them for several days as a Soyuz crew member before returning home with the Expedition 12 crew is Marcos Pontes, Brazilian Space Agency. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
ISS034-E-009697 (23 Dec. 2012) --- Inside the Tranquility node of the International Space Station, Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford plays a ukulele on Dec. 23, 2012. Two days later, the Expedition 34 crew members assembled their voices and instruments to make Christmas music for the "folks at home," in other words, all the people celebrating Christmas on Earth.
ISS016-E-009981 (9 Nov. 2007) --- Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Expedition 16 flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, participates in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction continues on the International Space Station (ISS). During the spacewalk Malenchenko and astronaut Peggy A. Whitson (out of frame), commander, prepared for the relocation of the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA-2) and the subsequent move of the new Harmony node to its permanent ISS home.
JSC2007-E-098005 (8 Nov. 2007) --- At the Discovery crew's Nov. 8 welcome home ceremony in Houston astronaut George Zamka, the STS-120 pilot, revealed a cufflink tab like those which he and Peggy Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, crafted and which were then installed by spacewalker Scott Parazynski to repair a torn solar array. Zamka said he was keeping this memento as a reminder of his NASA coworkers support.
STS062-06-030 (4-18 March 1994) --- With cameras in hand two of the STS-62 astronauts prepare to take pictures of their home planet. John H. Casper (right), mission commander, handles a large format, Linhof camera, while Charles D. (Sam) Gemar, mission specialist, has just added a roll of film to a 70mm handheld Hasselblad camera. Earth observations and documentation occupied muc of the on-duty time of all five of the STS-62 crewmembers during their 14-day mission in earth orbit.
20140514_2BI6007 Expedition 38/39 Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) is welcomed home upon his return at Chkalovsky Airport in Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2014, a few hours after landing in the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft in Kazakhstan. Tyurin, along with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio (not pictured) completed 188 days in space following their launch in November, 2013. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S73-28818 (24 June 1973) --- Scientist-astronaut Joseph P. Kerwin, science pilot for the Skylab 2 mission, speaks to a crowd at Ellington Air Force Base during welcome home ceremonies for the crew. Astronaut Paul J. Weitz, pilot, is at center; and astronaut Charles Conrad Jr., crew commander, is at right. The wives, standing by their husbands, are (left to right) Shirley Kerwin, Suzanne Weitz and Jane Conrad. Photo credit: NASA
Officials, family, and friends gather to welcome home Expedition 56 Soyuz Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos, right, after he and NASA astronauts Drew Feustel and Flight Engineer Ricky Arnold landed their Soyuz MS-08 capsule near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018. Artemyev, Feustel, and Arnold are returning after 197 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 55 and 56 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
S120-E-008857 (4 Nov. 2007) --- Astronaut Peggy Whitson, Expedition 16 commander, prepares to close the hatch in the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA-2) of the International Space Station after the STS-120 crewmembers boarded Space Shuttle Discovery for their return trip home. Hatches were closed between the station and the shuttle at 2:03 p.m. (CST) on Nov. 4.
JSC2007-E-098002 (8 Nov. 2007) --- The crew of the STS-120 mission was welcomed home to Houston Nov. 8, following the landing of Space Shuttle Discovery in Florida on Nov. 7. Center Director Mike Coats, far right, introduced the crew to the crowd on hand at Ellington Field. From the right are STS-120 commander Pam Melroy, pilot George Zamka and mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Stephanie Wilson, Doug Wheelock, Paolo Nespoli (ESA) and Clay Anderson were welcomed by family and friends during the ceremony.
S72-49971 (29 Sept. 1972) --- Astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission, participates in extravehicular activity training in a water tank in Building 5 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Evans is scheduled to perform trans-Earth extravehicular activity after the Apollo 17 spacecraft leaves lunar orbit on its way back home. The structure in the picture simulates the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) bay of the Apollo 17 Service Module.
STS046-19-037 (8 Aug 1992) --- Having completed eight days in Earth-orbit, the crew members prepare for their brief journey home. Left to right are Andrew M. Allen, pilot; Claude Nicollier, mission specialist representing the European Space Agency (ESA); and Marsha S. Ivins, mission specialist. Just out of frame, at left, is Loren J. Shriver, mission commander, who guided the Space Shuttle Atlantis in for its Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida landing.
Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, left, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, right, are seen during the playing of the national anthem of the United States of America at a traditional welcome home ceremony at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. The crew landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan on November 22nd after spending five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
JSC2007-E-18096 (9 April 2007) --- Astronauts Pamela A. Melroy (left), STS-120 commander; Daniel M. Tani, Expedition 16 flight engineer; and George D. Zamka, STS-120 pilot, enjoy a light moment as they await the start of a training session in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at Johnson Space Center. Tani is scheduled to join Expedition 16 as flight engineer after launching to the International Space Station on mission STS-120 and is scheduled to return home on mission STS-122.
Expedition 29 Flight Engineer Sergei Volkov is welcomed home by colleagues and family in Star City, Russia on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2011. Russian Cosmonaut Volkov, Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa returned to Arkalyk, Kazakhstan earlier in the day from over five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedtion 28 and 29 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
JSC2011-E-070263 (22 July 2011) --- NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) director Michael L. Coats (right) greets NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, shortly after he and three other crew members arrived at Ellington Field near JSC. Awaiting them was a large crowd on hand in nearby Hangar 990 to welcome them home to Houston during a return ceremony for the final mission for the Space Shuttle Program. Photo credit: NASA
Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, left, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, third from left, take part in a traditional welcome home ceremony at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. The crew landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan on November 22nd after spending five months living and working aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
Spectators try to grab the highest viewing point to watch the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft launched with Expedition 13 crew members Pavel V. Vinogradov, Commander; Jeffrey N. Williams, Science Officer and Flight Engineer; and Marcos Pontes, Brazilian Space Agency Soyuz crew member. They began their mission Wednesday evening launching from Baikonur, Kazakhstan at 8:30 a.m. (Kazakhstan time). Pontes will return home with Expedition 12 on April 8, 2006. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Expedition 13 Commander Pavel V. Vinogradov and Science Officer and Flight Engineer Jeffrey N. Williams began their mission Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. EST, (Thursday, March 30, 2006, 8:30 a.m. Kazakhstan time). They launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-8 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Joining them for several days as a Soyuz crew member before returning home with the Expedition 12 crew is Marcos Pontes, Brazilian Space Agency. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
STS080-375-029 (6 Dec. 1996) --- On the middeck of the Earth-orbiting space shuttle Columbia, astronaut Story Musgrave helps with the final touches of suit donning for astronaut Kenneth D. Cockrell, STS-80 mission commander. The orange suit is a partial pressure launch and entry garment. The crew, initially waved off from its scheduled landing, eventually brought the Columbia home on Dec. 7, 1996.
Expedition 30 Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin, far left, and Anton Shkaplerov are welcomed home by colleagues and family in Star City, Russia on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Russian Cosmonauts Ivanishin, Shkaplerov and Expedition 30 Commander Daniel Burbank landed outside of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan earlier in the day from over five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedtion 29 and 30 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
JSC2011-E-040243 (2 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, prepares for departure from Moffett Field as he flies a T-38 trainer home to Houston after the crew of STS-135 trained in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA's Ames Research Center on March 2, 2011, in Mountain View, Calif. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool
JSC2007-E-098003 (8 Nov. 2007) --- The crew of the STS-120 mission was welcomed home to Houston Nov. 8, following the landing of Space Shuttle Discovery in Florida on Nov. 7. STS-120 commander Pam Melroy, pilot George Zamka (both pictured here with JSC Director Mike Coats) along with mission specialists Scott Parazynski, Stephanie Wilson, Doug Wheelock, Paolo Nespoli (ESA) and Clay Anderson (all out of frame) were welcomed by family and friends during a ceremony at Houston's Ellington Field.
jsc2022e090746 (Dec. 1, 2022): Flight controller Todd Quasny at the command and data handling console in Houston’s Mission Control Center observes the Orion spacecraft under the direction of Flight Director Rick LaBrode. The spacecraft departed its distant retrograde orbit on flight day 16 of the Artemis I mission – one of the steps needed to bring the spacecraft home from the Moon. Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
JSC2011-E-040202 (2 March 2011) --- NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, STS-135 commander, departs from the Moffett Field (Calif.) flight operations center for his trip home to Houston after he and his crew trained in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, March 2, 2011. Photo credit: NASA Photo/Houston Chronicle, Smiley N. Pool
JSC2007-E-098007 (8 Nov. 2007) --- The crew of the STS-120 mission was welcomed home to Houston Nov. 8, following the landing of Space Shuttle Discovery in Florida on Nov. 7. Astronaut Doug Wheelock, mission specialist, addresses the crowd on hand at Ellington Field. Also seen are astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Scott Parazynski, mission specialists. Not pictured are STS-120 commander Pam Melroy, pilot George Zamka and mission specialists Paolo Nespoli (ESA) and Clay Anderson.
At Chkalovsky Airbase outside Star City, Russia, Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov is greeted at the foot of the stairs of the plane that brought him home from Kazakhstan June 2, 2010 after he and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi landed in the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft earlier in the day to wrap up 163 days in space. Kotov is assisted by Alexei Krasnov (R), the head of Piloted Programs for the Russian Federal Space Agency. Credit: NASA/Stephanie Stoll
Expedition 30 Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin is welcomed home by colleagues and family in Star City, Russia on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Russian Cosmonaut Ivanishin, Expedition 30 Commander Daniel Burbank, and Russian Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov landed outside of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan earlier in the day from over five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedtion 29 and 30 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
ISS016-E-009992 (9 Nov. 2007) --- Astronaut Peggy A. Whitson (right), Expedition 16 commander; and cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, flight engineer representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, participate in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction continues on the International Space Station (ISS). During the spacewalk Whitson and Malenchenko prepared for the relocation of the Pressurized Mating Adapter 2 (PMA-2) and the subsequent move of the new Harmony node to its permanent ISS home.
JSC2006-E-46706 (26 Oct. 2006) --- Cosmonaut Pavel V. Vinogradov (left), Expedition 13 commander representing Russia's Federal Space Agency, and astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams, NASA space station science officer and flight engineer, are pictured with floral arrangements in the ballroom of the Gilruth Center at Johnson Space Center (JSC) during the Expedition 13 welcome home ceremony. JSC Director Michael L. Coats is seated at right.
ISS006-E-45802 (14 April 2003) --- Attired in their Russian Sokol suits, astronaut Kenneth D. Bowersox (right), Expedition Six mission commander, and cosmonaut Nikolai M. Budarin, flight engineer, are pictured in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS). The crewmembers were practicing for their return flight home scheduled for May 3, 2003 onboard the Soyuz TMA-1 spacecraft.
STS042-45-033 (30 Jan. 1992) --- Astronauts Ronald J. Grabe (left) and Stephen S. Oswald man the commander and pilot stations, respectively, during the entry phase of the STS-42 mission. The pink glow through the front windows telltale of friction caused heat encountered upon passing through Earth's atmosphere on the return trip home.
This photograph shows Apollo 13 astronauts Fred Haise, John Swigert, and James Lovell aboard the recovery ship, USS Iwo Jima after safely touching down in the Pacific Ocean at the end of their ill-fated mission. The mission was aborted after 56 hours of flight, 205,000 miles from Earth, when an oxygen tank in the service module exploded. The command module, Odyssey, brought the three astronauts back home safely.