Born: Syzran, Russia

Interests: mountaineering 

Spaceflights: Exps. 23 and 24

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/Tg0ksk

Mikhail Kornienko (Roscosmos) – Flight Engineer

(Kor-knee-EHN-koh)

Born: Orange, New Jersey

Interests: racquetball, running, water sports and 

weight lifting 

Spaceflights: STS-103, STS-118, Exps. 25 and 26

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/SbcMZD 

Twitter: @StationCDRKelly

Instagram: stationcdrkelly

Scott Kelly (NASA) – Flight Engineer

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

International Space Station

EXPEDITION 46Expedition 46 began December 11, 2015 and ends March 1, 2016. This expedition 

includes human research, biology and biotechnology, astrophysics research, physical 

science investigations and education activities. One spacewalk is tentatively planned during Expedition 46.

During Expedition 46, crew members will install equipment and conduct experiments that 

help researchers test the use of inflatable space habitats in microgravity, analyze microbes 

living on the space station and study the protein crystal growth enablement of structurebased drug design (SBDD), an integral component in the drug discovery and development 

process. Investigations like these demonstrate how space station crews help advance NASA's 

journey to Mars while making discoveries that can benefit all of humanity.

Soyuz TMA-19M Launch: December 15, 2015 • Landing: June 5, 2016

THE CREW:

Soyuz TMA-18M Launch: September 2, 2015 • Landing: March 1, 2016 

(Note: Kelly and Kornienko launched on Soyuz TMA-16M on March 27, 2015)

THE SCIENCE:

What are 

some of the 

investigations 

the crew is 

operating?

[MISSION SUMMARY]

Born: Svetlovodsk, Kirovograd Region, Ukraine

Interests: sports, games and music

Spaceflights: STS-106, Exps. 7, 16, 32 and 33

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/195yzKI

Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos) – Flight Engineer

Born: Austin, Texas

Interests: running, swimming, reading, home 

improvement projects, and spending time with family 

and friends 

Spaceflights: STS-127, Expedition 20

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/bgyJnW

Twitter: @astro_tim

Timothy Kopra (NASA) – Flight Engineer

Born: Chuguyev, Kharkov Region, Ukraine

Interests: sports, tennis, windsurfing, reading and 

museums 

Spaceflights: Exps. 17, 28 and 29 

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/10s4JYn

Twitter: @Volkov_ISS

Sergey Volkov (Roscosmos) – Flight Engineer

(SIR-gay VOLL-koff)

Born: Chichester, England

Interests: skiing, scuba diving, cross-country running, 

climbing, and mountaineering

Spaceflights: Exps. 46/47 mark his first space station missions

Bio: http://go.nasa.gov/1MkB4Ja 

Twitter: @astro_timpeake

Instagram: @astro_timpeake

Tim Peake (ESA) – Flight Engineer
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 

Houston, Texas 77058

www.nasa.gov

NP-2015-12-043-JSC

International

Space Station

Mission

Summary

Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM)

Future space habitats for low-Earth orbit, the moon, Mars, or other 

destinations need to be lightweight and relatively simple to construct. 

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is an experimental 

expandable capsule that attaches to the International Space Station (ISS). 

After installation, BEAM inflates to roughly 13 feet long and 10.5 feet in 

diameter to provide a habitable volume where a crew member can enter. 

Expandable habitats, occasionally described as inflatable habitats, 

greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space 

missions. These “expandables” weigh less and take up less room on a 

rocket while allowing additional space for living and working. They also 

provide protection from solar and cosmic radiation, space debris, and 

other contaminants. Crews traveling to the moon, Mars, asteroids, or 

other destinations could use them as habitable structures.

BEAM is scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Commercial Resupply 

Services Mission 8, also known as CRS-8. BEAM will be installed via the 

Canadarm2, which will remove BEAM from the capsule and connect it to 

the aft port of the International Space Station’s Node 3. It will be inflated 

at a later date.

■ Microbial Tracking Payload Series/Microbial Observatory-1

Along with crew members and experimental payloads, the space station 

is home to a variety of microbes, which could potentially threaten crew 

health and jeopardize equipment. The Microbial Payload Tracking Series 

project uses microbial analysis techniques to establish a census of the 

microorganisms living on space station surfaces and in its atmosphere. 

Crew members will sample the United States modules three times 

during one year, which enables researchers to conduct long-term, 

multigenerational studies of microbial population dynamics. This analysis 

can help determine whether some microbes are more virulent in space, 

and which genetic changes might be involved in this response. This will 

provide a better understanding of microbe diversity onboard the station, 

as well as genetic strategies for identifying specific subsets. Results 

from this investigation can be used to evaluate cleaning strategies, and 

The 46 icon in the foreground of the patch represents the forty-sixth expedition 

on the International Space Station. Earth is depicted at the top with the flags of 

the countries of origin of the crew members: the United States, Russia and the 

United Kingdom. The Union flag of the UK is displayed in a position of prominence 

in recognition of the significance of the first British ESA (European Space Agency) 

astronaut to fly in space. The outer border is in the shape of a triangle with an 

unbroken border, symbolizing the infinite journey of discovery for past, present 

and future space explorers. The names of the six Expedition 46 astronauts and 

cosmonauts are shown in the border.

THE MISSION PATCH:

to mitigate microbe-related risks to crew health and spacecraft system 

performance.

CASIS Protein Crystal Growth 4 (CASIS PCG 4)

CASIS PCG 4 comprises two investigations that both leverage the 

microgravity environment in the growth of protein crystals and focus on 

structure-based design (SBDD). SBDD is an integral component in the 

drug discovery and development process. Primarily, SBDD relies on 

the three-dimensional, structural information provided by protein 

crystallography to inform the design of more potent, effective and 

selective drugs.

One investigation will study the effect of microgravity on the 

co-crystallization of a membrane protein with a medically relevant 

compound. It has been established that growing protein crystals in 

microgravity can avoid some of the obstacles inherent to protein 

crystallization on Earth, such as sedimentation. As a result, scientists 

will attempt to grow co-crystals of a human membrane protein in the 

presence of a medically relevant compound in microgravity in order to 

determine its three-dimensional structure. This will enable scientists to 

chemically target and inhibit, with “designer” compounds, an important 

human biological pathway that has been shown to responsible for 

several types of cancer. 

The second investigation, A Co-Crystallization in Microgravity 

Approach to Structure-based Drug Design, seeks to determine whether 

crystals formed in microgravity represent an improvement over crystals 

formed by ground-based methods. Scientists expect the crystals 

formed in microgravity to diffract to a higher resolution than those 

developed on Earth, and thereby, provide greater molecular detail. This 

will permit more confident evaluations of ligand-binding (when a signaltriggering molecule binds to a site on a target protein). The resulting 

structures could be used to advance the medical-chemistry effort 

through improved/enhanced SBDD.