Expedition 11 Launch

Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev, Flight Engineer and NASA Science Officer John Phillips and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori of Italy blast off aboard the Soyuz TMA-6 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, April 15, 2005, for a two-day trip to the International Space Station. Krikalev and Phillips will spend six months on the Station, replacing Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, while Vittori will spend eight days on the Station under a commerical contract between ESA and the Russian Federal Space Agency, returning to Earth with Chiao and Sharipov on April 25. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)