National Aeronautics and Space Administration

International Space Station

[MISSION SUMMARY]

EXPEDITION 36begins May 13 and ends Sept. 11. This expedition will continue the research 

being conducted on the orbiting laboratory with experiments such as the 

Japanese experiment Aniso Tubule and the European Space Agency’s SOLAR. Two U.S. spacewalks are planned by NASA’s Chris 

Cassidy and the European Space Agency’s Luca Parmitano, and three Russian spacewalks are planned for Fyodor Yurchikhin and 

Alexander Misurkin.

Expedition 36 will continue to take advantage of the space station's unique 

microgravity environment and expand the scope of research. The crew will 

perform experiments that cover technology development, physical sciences, 

human research, biology and biotechnology and Earth observations. The crew 

also will engage in educational activities.

Born: Vining, Minn.

Interests: Running marathons and sewing

Spaceflights: STS-124, Exp. 36/37

Twitter: @AstroKarenN

Karen L. Nyberg (NASA) – Flight Engineer

Born: Yershichi, Smolensk Region, Russia

Interests: Badminton, basketball and downhill skiing

Spaceflights: Exp. 35/36 is his first mission 

Aleksander Misurkin (Roscosmos) – Flight Engineer

(ALEK-sander MIH-sur-kin) 

Born: Salem, Mass., but considers York, Maine, to be his 

hometown

Spaceflights: STS-127, Exp. 35/36

Chris Cassidy (NASA) – Flight Engineer

Born: Magadan, Russia

Interests: Sports, aviation and cosmonautics history 

and astronomy 

Spaceflights: Mir-24, Exp. 13, Exp. 35/36

Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos) - Commander

(PA-vel VIN-o-grad-ov)

Born: Batumi, Georgia

Interests: Collecting stamps and space logos, sports, 

history of cosmonautics, reading

Spaceflights: STS-112, Exp. 15, Exp. 24/25, Exp. 36/37

Fyodor Yurchikhin (Roscosmos) - Flight Engineer

(fee-YOH-dur yur-CHEE-kihn)

Born: Paternò, Italy

Interests: Scuba diving, snowboarding, skydiving, weight 

training, swimming, reading, and music

Spaceflights: Exp. 36/37 is his first mission

Twitter: @astro_luca

Luca Parmitano (ESA) - Flight Engineer

(LU-ka par-muh-TAN-oh)

Soyuz TMA-09M • Launch: May 28, 2013 • Landing: Nov. 10, 2013

THE CREW:

Soyuz TMA-08M • Launch: March 28, 2013 • Landing: Sept. 11, 2013

THE SCIENCE:

What's

the crew

working

on?
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

www.nasa.gov

NP-2013-05-007-JSC

International

Space Station

Mission

Summary

n DOD SPHERES-RINGS (NASA)

The Department of Defense Synchronized Position, Hold, Engage 

and Reorient Experimental Satellites-Resonant Inductive Near-field 

Generation System (DOD SPHERES-RINGS) investigation uses the 

SPHERES facility and is designed to demonstrate and test, in a 

complex environment, enhanced technologies and techniques related 

to micro electromagnetic formation flight and wireless inductive power 

transfer. By advancing the knowledge base of inter-satellite attitude 

control and wireless power transfer, future systems can expect 

enhanced attitude control performance between separate satellites 

and potentially the ability to efficiently transfer power efficiently at a 

distance, possibly alleviating the need for alternate or expendable (i.e., 

batteries) power sources.

n Italian Combustion Experiment for Green Air (ESA) 

The Italian Combustion Experiment for Green Air (ICE-GA) is the study 

of the evaporation and combustion regimes of renewable liquid fuels. 

Single droplet imaging is used to perform the study. The experiments 

are carried out on two selected fuels by varying the pressure and the 

oxygen content. The fuels are second- and third-generation biofuels or 

fundamental biofuel surrogates.

n Prospective Observational 

Study of Ocular Health in ISS 

Crews (NASA)

The Observation Study of 

Ocular Health in International 

Space Station Crews (Ocular) 

aims to gather physiological 

data to characterize the risk 

of microgravity-induced visual 

impairment and intracranial 

pressure on crew members 

in orbit for six months. The 

purpose of this study 

is to collect evidence to characterize the risk and define the visual 

and central nervous system changes observed during a six-month 

exposure to microgravity, including post-flight time. The information 

obtained may be relevant for patients suffering from eye diseases 

such as glaucoma and diseases of the brain like hydrocephalus and 

idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

n Windows on Earth (NASA)

Windows on Earth is a suite of software tools to help students, scientists 

and astronauts explore Earth from space. It provides an augmentedreality system to manage Earth observation targets, support in-orbit 

photography and help scientists and the public explore the wealth of 

images available. The Earth visualization engine creates views of Earth 

as seen from orbit with realistic features, colors, topography, day-tonight transitions and targets for Earth observation and photography.

The dynamic design of the Expedition 36 patch portrays the International Space Station's 

iconic solar arrays. The slanted angles denote a kinetic energy leading from Earth in the 

lower right to the upper left tip of the triangular shape of the patch, representing the infinite 

scientific research, education and long-duration spaceflight capabilities the orbiting lab 

provides with each mission, as well as our goal for future exploration beyond the space 

station. The numbers "3" and "6" harmoniously intertwine to form expedition number 36 and 

its gray coloration signifies the unity and neutrality among all of the international partners 

of the station. The blue and gold color scheme of the patch represents the subtle way the 

central gold orbit wraps around the number "36" to form a trident at its lower right tip. The 

trident also symbolizes the sea, air, and land all of which make up the Earth from where the 

trident originates in the design.

THE MISSION PATCH:

NASA astronaut Suni Williams performs 

Panoptic eye imaging with the help 

of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency 

(JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. (NASA)

Windows on Earth user interface design, with (left to right) user 

controls, main window, ten-minute projection and two-orbit projection. 

(TERC)