Expedition 31 Trio Blasts Off for International Space Station

May 14, 2012

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-156

EXPEDITION 31 TRIO BLASTS OFF FOR INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

HOUSTON -- NASA Flight Engineer Joseph Acaba, Russian Soyuz Commander
Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin blasted off for the
International Space Station at 10:01 p.m. CDT Tuesday, May 14 (9:01
a.m. Baikonur time on May 15), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.

Acaba, Padalka and Revin are scheduled to dock their Soyuz TMA-04M
spacecraft to the Poisk module of the station at 11:39 p.m.
Wednesday, May 16. They will join Expedition 31 Commander Oleg
Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineers
Don Pettit of NASA and Andr�� Kuipers of the European Space Agency,
who have been aboard the orbiting laboratory since Dec. 23, 2011. The
six astronauts and cosmonauts will work together for about two
months.

NASA Television will provide live docking coverage beginning at 11
p.m. on May 16. Hatch opening and welcoming ceremonies will occur
about three hours later on May 17.

Upon arrival, Acaba, Padalka and Revin will become members of the
Expedition 31 crew, restoring the station's crew complement to six
and continuing scientific research aboard the station.

Pettit, Kononeko and Kuipers are scheduled to return to Earth on July
1. Acaba, Padalka and Revin will return home in mid-September.

Also on board with the crew was a small "Smokey Bear" plush toy
serving as the traditional Soyuz "talisman." Smokey Bear is the U.S.
national symbol for wildfire prevention. Prior to the flight, Acaba
explained he proposed flying Smokey Bear in an effort to raise
awareness of human-caused wildfires. Acaba, an avid outdoorsman,
holds two degrees in geology and served as an environmental education
awareness promoter while in the U.S. Peace Corps.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
To follow Twitter updates from NASA's Expedition 31 astronauts, visit:


https://twitter.com/astro_Pettit

https://twitter.com/astro_Acaba
For more information about Expedition 31 and the space station, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/station


-end-



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