# Expedition 9

Expedition 9 (2004) was the ninth expedition to the International Space Station (21 April 2004 – 23 October 2004).

## Crew

Prime crew :
| Position | Crew | Crew |
| Commander | Gennady Padalka, RSA Second spaceflight | Gennady Padalka, RSA Second spaceflight |
| Flight Engineer | Michael Fincke, NASA First spaceflight | Michael Fincke, NASA First spaceflight |
Backup crew :
| Position | Crew | Crew |
| Commander | Leroy Chiao, NASA | Leroy Chiao, NASA |
| Flight Engineer | Salizhan Sharipov, RSA | Salizhan Sharipov, RSA |

### Planned crew before Columbia disaster

| Position | Crew | Crew |
| Commander | Gennady Padalka, RSA | Gennady Padalka, RSA |
| Flight Engineer | Michael Fincke, NASA | Michael Fincke, NASA |
| Flight Engineer | Oleg Kononenko, RSA | Oleg Kononenko, RSA |

## Mission parameters

* Perigee: 384 km
* Apogee: 396 km
* Inclination: 51.6°
* Period: 92 min

## Mission objectives

Padalka and Fincke arrived at the Station on 21 April 2004 aboard the Soyuz TMA-4 spacecraft with European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut André Kuipers. After more than a week of joint operations and handover activities, Padalka and Fincke officially took command of the Station on 29 April when Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale and Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri left the Station. This mission was the site for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity Project.
Expedition 8 and Kuipers returned to Earth that same day aboard the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft. Kuipers' 11-day mission to the ISS was part of a commercial agreement between ESA and the Federal Space Agency of Russia.

## Spacewalks

The Expedition 9 crew conducted four spacewalks during its stay at the International Space Station. The four spacewalks were devoted to ISS maintenance and assembly. All four were based out of the Pirs Docking Compartment and used Russian Orlan spacesuits.
Before these four extravehicular activities (EVAs), 52 spacewalks had been performed at the ISS, with 27 based out of the Station.
Gennady Padalka (EV1): red stripes Mike Fincke (EV2): blue stripes
| Mission | Spacewalkers | Start (UTC) | End (UTC) | Duration |
| Expedition 9 EVA 1 | Gennady Padalka Mike Fincke | 24 June 2004 21:56 | 24 June 2004 22:10 | 14 minutes |
| The spacewalk was cut short due to a pressure problem in Fincke's prime oxygen tank in his spacesuit. Mission managers decided to reschedule the spacewalk for 29 June. ||||
| Expedition 9 EVA 2 | Gennady Padalka Mike Fincke | 29 June 2004 21:19 | 30 June 2004 02:59 | 5 hours 40 minutes |
| Padalka and Fincke replaced a Remote Power Controller (RPCM) that failed in late April, causing a loss of power in Control Moment Gyroscope No. 2 (CMG 2). A failed Remote Power Controller Module was responsible for the temporary loss of CMG 2 in April. The gyroscope is one of four that control the ISS' orientation. ||||
| Expedition 9 EVA 3 | Gennady Padalka Mike Fincke | 3 August 2004 06:58 | 3 August 2004 11:28 | 4 hours 30 minutes |
| In preparation for the arrival of the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), Padalka and Fincke removed laser retro reflectors from the Zvezda Service Module assembly compartment and installed three updated laser retro reflectors and one internal videometer target. They installed two antennas. The spacewalkers removed Kromka Panel No. 2 and installed Kromka Panel No. 3. The Kromka experiment exposes various materials to the space environment. They also replaced another materials science experiment. ||||
| Expedition 9 EVA 4 | Gennady Padalka Mike Fincke | 3 September 2004 16:43 | 3 September 2004 22:04 | 5 hours 20 minutes |
| Expedition 9's fourth scheduled EVA prepared the Station for future assembly operations and the arrival of the ATV. The spacewalkers replaced the Zarya Control Module flow control panel and installed four safety tether fairleads on Zarya's handrails. ATV support operations included installing equipment for the air-to-air radio link antennas and removing all covers from antennas. Other tasks included installing a Pressure Control and Exposure Monitor Sensor on Pirs and installing protective components on the brackets of Pirs' ring handrails on EVA Hatch No. 2. ||||

## Mission patch

The design of the Expedition 9 mission patch includes a tribute to astronauts and cosmonauts who gave their lives in space exploration. The outspread wings of the eagle have 16 stars and 1 star of David. They represent the Apollo 1 crew Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51L crew Dick Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik and Christa McAuliffe. Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 crew Rick Husband, William C. McCool, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, Laurel Clark and Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut. Around the eagles neck are 4 small red stars and one larger red star. The large star is for Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space during Vostok 1, who was killed during training for Soyuz 3. The other 4 are for Soyuz 1 cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, Soyuz 11 crew Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov.