Expedition 42

Occurred 9 years ago

The Expedition 42 crew studied the affects of microgravity on genetic transmission and radiation on immune cells. New research hardware observed haze, dust, smoke, and pollution in Earth's atmosphere and investigated super-heated materials that may advance the development of lighter, higher-performing alloys for Earth and space industries.

Mission Type

ISS Expedition

meet the crew

Barry Wilmore, Alexander Samoukutyeav, Elena Serova, Anton Shkaplerov, Samantha Cristoforetti

Launch

Sept. 25, 2014

Landing

March 11, 2015

The official insignia of the Expedition 42 mission aboard the International Space Station.
NASA

Crew Members

Barry Wilmore, Commander
Alexander Samoukutyaev, Flight Engineer
Elena Serova, Flight Engineer
Terry Virts, Flight Engineer
Anton Shkaplerov, Flight Engineer
Samantha Cristoforetti, Flight Engineer

Crew and Cargo Missions

3/11/15 – Expedition 41/42 Land
2/17/15 – ISS Progress 58 Launch/Dock
2/14/2015 – ATV-5 Undock
2/10/15 – SpaceX CRS-5 Release
1/12/15 – SpaceX CRS-5 Capture
1/10/15 – SpaceX CRS-5 Launch
11/23/14 – Expedition 42/43 Launch

Spacewalks

Date: March 1, 2015
Duration: 5 hours, 38 minutes
Spacewalkers: Barry Wilmore, Terry Virts

Date: Feb. 25, 2015
Duration: 6 hours, 43 minutes
Spacewalkers: Barry Wilmore, Terry Virts

Date: Feb. 21, 2015
Duration: 6 hours, 41 minutes
Spacewalkers: Barry Wilmore, Terry Virts

Expedition 42 Resources

News Releases

The news releases for Expedition 42 covering a variety of mission events and other activities both on Earth and in space.

Mission Blogs

The daily blog updates for Expedition 42 highlighting crew and cargo missions, spacewalks, and advanced space research.

The sun's first rays burst over the Earth's horizon

Mission Summary

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

The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) Growth and Extinction Limits (GEL) experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) studies flame growth and extinction in an effort to improve fire safety in space. This image shows a sequence of snapshots taken about 3 seconds apart. During this test point, the ambient oxygen concentration starts relatively high (28%). Initially, the flame is seen as yellow and sooty. As the ambient pressure is reduced, the flame becomes bluer and continues to shrink until fully extinguished. This gives researchers pressure limit data points for flame extinction that could help improve crew and spacecraft safety for future exploration missions.

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 42, 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 42 in the gallery.