Meet the Crew

On March 29, 2006 the Russian Soyuz rocket launched on a mission to the International Space Station. On board were Expedition 13 Commander Cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and Astronaut Jeffrey Williams and a third crew member, Brazilian Astronaut Marcos Pontes, who departed with the Expedition 12 crew on April 8. Since then, NASA has sent the Space Shuttle to the ISS to continue building and powering up the station.

The International Space Station project is a partnership between 16 countries including the United States. The station is still being constructed and weighs a hefty 404,069 pounds! The interior living area is about 15,000 cubic feet. There are areas for the crew to sleep, exercise and perform experiments. But there is not a lot of extra storage space for belongings or waste. Everything onboard has a purpose and there are 'No Washers or Dryers in Space'. The U.S. Shuttle is scheduled to blast off in July to take more crew and supplies for building the ISS. In the near future, there will be a new space craft that will be used to get us to the ISS. Learn more about the next generation space vehicles to find out How we will get back to the Moon . Get more space activities here!