Expedition 12

Occurred 18 years ago

The Expedition 12 crew studied how the lack of gravity affects the lower body and its muscles for a greater understanding of how space causes bone and muscle loss. The crewmates also explored "smart materials," fluids that respond to magnetic fields, and visualized protein crystal growth to aid in the development of new disease-fighting drugs.

Mission Type

Humans in Space

meet the crew

Bill McArthur, Valery Tokarev

Launch

Sept. 30, 2005

Landing

April 8, 2006

Two male astronauts in blue flight suits pose for their Expedition 12 crew picture with an image of the ISS orbiting the Earth in the background. — Astronaut William S. McArthur, Jr. (left), Expedition 12 commander and NASA Space Station science officer, and cosmonaut Valery I. Tokarev, flight engineer representing Russia’s Federal Space Agency, pause from their training schedule to pose for their official crew portrait at Johnson Space Center (JSC).

Crew Members

Bill McArthur, Commander
Valery Tokarev, Flight Engineer

Crew and Cargo Missions

4/8/06 – Expedition 12 Land
3/31/06 – Expedition 13 Dock
3/20/06 – Soyuz TMA-7 Relocation
3/3/06 – ISS Progress 19 Undock
3/29/06 – Expedition 13 Launch
12/23/05 – ISS Progress 20 Dock
11/18/05 – Soyuz TMA-7 Relocation

Spacewalks

Date: Feb. 3, 2006
Duration: 5 hours, 43 minutes
Spacewalkers: Bill McArthur, Valery Tokarev

Date: Nov. 7, 2005
Duration: 5 hours, 22 minutes
Spacewalkers: Bill McArthur, Valery Tokarev

Expedition 12 Resources

Status Reports

Expedition 12 Status Reports from September 2005 through April 2006.

Earth's Moon, Venus, Jupiter and the crescent of Earth at the top.

Expedition Press Kit

Get an overview of the Expedition, its crew and the activities they are working on during this mission to the International Space Station.

Mission Science

Explore hands-on activities, interactive, lesson plans, educator guides, and other downloadable content about this topic.

One of the Expedition 41 crew members aboard the International Space Station, flying at an altitude of 222 nautical miles above a point in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the coast of Africa near the Tropic of Cancer, photographed this eye-catching panorama of the night sky and the Milky Way on Sept. 27. NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, flight engineer, tweeted the image, which was taken with an electronic still camera, set with a 24mm focal length. In his accompanying comments, Wiseman stated, "Sahara sands make the Earth glow orange."

Mission Imagery

During Expedition 12, the crew took images of the Earth views, the orbiting station, their daily lives aboard and the experiments they conducted during their stay, plus so much more. Check out some of the image highlights from Expedition 12 in the gallery.