Expedition 18

Occurred 15 years ago

The Expedition 18 crew studied medicines and vitamins as a way to offset the effects living in space, as well as returning to Earth's gravity. The crewmates also explored fire suppression techniques on spacecraft, a continuous air contamination monitor for a safe breathing environment, and new solar cell technologies that can withstand the harsh environment of space.

Mission Type

Humans in Space

meet the crew

Michael Fincke, Yury Lonchakov, Gregory Chamitoff, Sandra Magnus, Koichi Wakata

Launch

Oct. 12, 2008

Landing

April 8, 2009

The official insignia of the Expedition 18 mission aboard the International Space Station.
NASA

Crew Members

Michael Fincke, Commander
Yury Lonchakov, Flight Engineer
Gregory Chamitoff, Flight Engineer
Sandra Magnus, Flight Engineer
Koichi Wakata, Flight Engineer

Crew and Cargo Missions

4/8/09 – Expedition 18 Land
4/7/09 – Expedition 18 Undock
3/25/09 – STS-119 Undock
2/17/09 – STS-119 Dock
2/13/09 – ISS Progress 32 Dock
2/10/09 – ISS Progress 32 Launch
2/5/09 – ISS Progress 31 Undock
11/30/08 – ISS Progress 31 Dock
11/28/08 – STS-126 undock
11/16/08 – STS-126 Dock
11/14/08 – ISS Progress 30 Undock

Spacewalks

Date: March 23, 2009
Duration: 6 hours, 27 minutes
Spacewalks: Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold

Date: March 21, 2009
Duration: 6 hours, 30 minutes
Spacewalks: Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba

Date: March 19, 2009
Duration: 6 hours, 7 minutes
Spacewalks: Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold

Date: March 10, 2009
Duration: 4 hours, 49 minutes
Spacewalks: Yury Lonchakov, Mike Fincke

Date: Dec. 23, 2008
Duration: 5 hours, 38 minutes
Spacewalks: Yury Lonchakov, Mike Fincke

Date: Nov. 24, 2008
Duration: 6 hours, 7 minutes
Spacewalks: Stephen Bowen, Shane Kimbrough

Date: Nov. 22, 2008
Duration: 6 hours, 57 minutes
Spacewalks: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Stephen Bowen

Date: Nov. 20, 2008
Duration: 6 hours, 45 minutes
Spacewalks: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough

Date: Nov. 18, 2008
Duration: 6 hours, 52 minutes
Spacewalks: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Stephen Bowen

Expedition 18 Resources

News Releases

The news releases for Expedition 18 covering a variety of mission events and other activities both on Earth and in space.

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 18, 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 18 in the gallery.