Expedition Three

During the second year of the International Space Station's permanent occupation, several milestones were reached and new records were set.

An unpiloted Progress cargo ship arrives at the station Nov. 28, 2001.

Nov. 12, 2001 - Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson and Pilot Vladimir Dezhurov complete the external outfitting of the station's Pirs Docking Compartment during a 5-hour spacewalk.

Nov. 28, 2001 - Progress 6, an unpiloted Russian resupply vessel, docks with the station.

Expedition Three Commander Frank Culbertson

Dec. 3, 2001 - During the first unscheduled spacewalk in the station's history, Dezhurov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin remove debris from the docking interface between a Progress spacecraft and the Zvezda Service Module.

Dec. 5-17, 2001 - The Expedition Four crewmembers -- Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Carl Walz and Dan Bursch -- launch aboard STS-108. They arrive at the station two days later, and on Dec. 8, officially replace the Expedition Three crewmembers, who join the STS-108 crew and return to Earth on Dec. 17.

Expedition Four

Expedition Four Flight Engineer Dan Bursch works in the Destiny Laboratory Module.

Jan. 14, 2002 - Onufrienko and Walz perform the first spacewalk of their increment, installing a Russian cargo boom and an amateur radio antenna on the station's exterior.

Dan Bursch, left, and Carl Walz prepare for the Feb. 20 spacewalk.

Feb. 20, 2002 - Walz and Bursch conduct the first spacewalk to be performed out of the station's Quest Airlock without the presence of a space shuttle at the station. The event also marks the first U.S. use of an intravehicular officer, Astronaut Joe Tanner, who works from Houston’s Mission Control Center instead of from onboard the spacecraft.

March 24, 2002 - Progress 7 docks with the station.

April 8-19, 2002 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from Kennedy Space Center to begin the STS-110 mission. It carries the station's S0 (S-Zero) Truss and Mobile Transporter in its payload bay. Atlantis arrives at the station two days later. On April 11, the S0 -- the first segment of the Integrated Truss System -- is installed on the station. After the Mobile Transporter is installed, it makes its first move down the track on April 15.

STS-110 Mission Specialist Jerry Ross performs a spacewalk to install the station's S0 (S-Zero) Truss.

The mission's four spacewalks mark several milestones. STS-110 is the first time that the station's robotic arm is used to maneuver spacewalkers around the station, and it is the first time that all of a shuttle crew's spacewalks are based out the station's Quest Airlock.

STS-110 Mission Specialist Jerry Ross becomes the first human to be launched into space seven times. With the two spacewalks that he performs, he tightens his grip on the most U.S. spacewalks (nine) and spacewalking time -- 58 hours, 18 minutes. Second on the list for both spacewalking milestones is Ross' crewmate Mission Specialist Steve Smith, who also conducts two spacewalks during STS-110 to give him a total of 49 hours, 48 minutes during seven spacewalks.

Soyuz 4 Taxi Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori

April 27, 2002 - The Soyuz 4 Taxi crew arrives at the station for a one-week stay. Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko becomes the first station resident to return to the outpost. He was a flight engineer during Expedition One, the first resident crew to live and work aboard the orbital outpost. The other taxi crewmembers are Flight Engineer Roberto Vittori of the European Space Agency and South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth.

STS-111 lifts off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., with the station's Mobile Base System and the Expedition Five crew aboard.

June 5-19, 2002 - Space Shuttle Endeavour launches from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to begin the STS-111 mission. It carries the station's Mobile Base System and the Expedition Five crew -- Commander Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei Treschev. Endeavour docks with the station June 7, and the Expedition Five crew assumes command of the outpost the same day. STS-111 also delivers the Microgravity Science Glovebox to the station.

Endeavour carries the Expedition Four crew back to Earth on June 19. The Expedition Four crew spent 196 days in space, giving Walz and Bursch the U.S. space flight endurance record. The previous record was 188 days. Walz also holds the U.S. record for cumulative time in space with 231 days, and Bursch is second with 227 days. During the mission, STS-111 Mission Specialist Franklin Chang-Díaz becomes only the second human to launch into space seven times.

Expedition Five NASA ISS Science Officer Peggy Whitson activates the Microgravity Science Glovebox.

Expedition Five

A space-grown soybean plant.

July 10, 2002 - Korzun and Whitson command the Canadian-built robotic arm to "walk off" its grapple fixture on the Destiny Laboratory Module and grapple a power and data fixture on the Mobile Base System on the S0 Truss. The walk-off is the first time Canadarm2 has been detached from Destiny since it was installed in April 2001.

July 12, 2002 - Expedition Five crewmembers complete the installation and activation of the Microgravity Science Glovebox in the Destiny Laboratory Module.

Sept. 16, 2002 - NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe names Whitson as the first NASA ISS science officer, opening the way to increase the station's main mission, scientific research. See Station Science for more science-related accomplishments.

STS-112 took this photo of the station after undocking.

Oct. 7-18, 2002 - Space Shuttle Atlantis launches from Kennedy Space Center to begin the STS-112 mission. Atlantis and its six-member crew deliver and install the S1 (S-One) Truss, the third segment of the Integrated Truss Structure. When STS-112 returns to Earth, it is carrying the first space-grown, seed-to-seed crop of soybeans.

Nov. 1, 2002 - The Soyuz 5 Taxi crew arrives at the station, delivering a new crew return vehicle. The new Soyuz is designed to accommodate larger or smaller crewmembers, and is equipped with upgraded computers, a new cockpit control panel and improved avionics.