Expedition 30 is the 30th and current long-duration mission to the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 (ISS). The expedition's first three crew members – Dan Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov

Anton Shkaplerov

Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov is a Russian cosmonaut.- Personal :Shkaplerov is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they have two daughters named Kristina and Kira. His parents, Nikolay Ivanovich Shkaplerov and Tamara Viktorovna Shkaplerova, live in Sevastopol...

 and Anatoli Ivanishin

Anatoli Ivanishin

Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin is a Russian cosmonaut. His first visit to the space was on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft launched on 14 November 2011.- Personal :Ivanishin is married to Svetlana Ivanishina. They have one son, Vladislav, born in 1993...

 – arrived on the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-22

Soyuz TMA-22

Soyuz TMA-22 is a current flight to the International Space Station . TMA-22 was the 111th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, and transported three members of the Expedition 29 crew to the ISS...

 on 16 November 2011, during the last phase of Expedition 29

Expedition 29

Expedition 29 was the 29th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station . The expedition formally began with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft at 00:38 UTC on on 16 September 2011...

, although the expedition formally began with the departure from the ISS of the Soyuz TMA-02M

Soyuz TMA-02M

Soyuz TMA-21 was a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station . It transported three members of the Expedition 27 crew to the ISS, and docked at the station on 6 April 2011. TMA-21 is the 109th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first of which launched in 1967...

 spacecraft on November 21, 2011.

Soyuz TMA-02M departure

On 21 November 2011, Soyuz TMA-02M

Soyuz TMA-02M

Soyuz TMA-21 was a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station . It transported three members of the Expedition 27 crew to the ISS, and docked at the station on 6 April 2011. TMA-21 is the 109th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first of which launched in 1967...

, carrying three Expedition 29 astronauts – Satoshi Furukawa

Satoshi Furukawa

is a Japanese surgeon and a JAXA astronaut.-Personal:Furukawa was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. He enjoys baseball, bowling, music and traveling...

, Mike Fossum and Sergei Volkov – departed the ISS and returned safely to Earth. Its landing marked the successful completion of Expedition 29.

Crew

Position	First Part (November 2011 to December 2011)	Second Part (December 2011 to March 2012)
Commander	Dan Burbank, NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research... Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer 1	Anton Shkaplerov Anton Shkaplerov Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov is a Russian cosmonaut.- Personal :Shkaplerov is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they have two daughters named Kristina and Kira. His parents, Nikolay Ivanovich Shkaplerov and Tamara Viktorovna Shkaplerova, live in Sevastopol... , RSA Russian Federal Space Agency The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located... First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 2	Anatoli Ivanishin Anatoli Ivanishin Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin is a Russian cosmonaut. His first visit to the space was on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft launched on 14 November 2011.- Personal :Ivanishin is married to Svetlana Ivanishina. They have one son, Vladislav, born in 1993... , RSA First spaceflight
Flight Engineer 3		Oleg Kononenko Oleg Kononenko Oleg Dmitriyevich Kononenko is a Russian cosmonaut.- Personal :Kononenko was born June 21, 1964, in Chardzhou, Turkmen SSR. He is married to Tatiana Mikhailovna Kononenko . They have a son, Andrey Olegovich Kononenko, and a daughter, Alisa Olegovna Kononenko. Kononenko enjoys reading, and team... ,RSA Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 4		André Kuipers André Kuipers André Kuipers is a Dutch physician and ESA astronaut. He officially became the second Dutch and the third Dutch-born astronaut upon launch of Soyuz TMA-4 on April 19, 2004. Kuipers returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-3 11 days later.Kuipers is scheduled to become the first Dutch astronaut to... , ESA Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer 5		Don Pettit, NASA Third spaceflight

Source: NASA

External links

• NASA's Space Station Expeditions page
• Expedition 30 Photography
• Expedition 30 crew portrait includes background image of NGC 3521 by R. Jay GaBany
  R. Jay GaBany
  Robert Jay GaBany is an American Amateur astronomer and astrophotographer who is also known for his work with an international team of astrophysicists led by...
  
  
• Astronomy Picture of the Day: NGC 3521 (2011 September 15 )