Photos: Space Station's Expedition 31 Mission

Expedition 31 Crew Suited Up

Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, seated left, Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, seated right, pose for a picture with their backup crew members Kevin Ford, standing left, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin, standing right, just a few hours before their launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-04M on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Padalka, Revin, and Acaba onboard, launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.

Expedition 31 Crew Prepares For Launch

Flight Engineer Joe Acaba has his Russian Sokol suit pressure checked in preparation for his launch onboard the Soyuz TMA-04M on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Acaba, Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin onboard, launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.

Expedition 31 Crew Waving

Expedition 31 Soyuz Commander Gennady Padalka, foreground, waves farewell to friends and family as the crew bus departs the Cosmonaut Hotel with fellow Expedition 31 crew members, Flight Engineer Joe Acaba, and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz spacecraft with Padalka, Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, and Joe Acaba onboard launched at 9:01 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Tuesday, May 15.

Over the Mediterranean

Much of the Middle East is seen in this night time image photographed by one of the Expedition 31 crew members aboard the International Space Station as it flew some 240 miles above the Mediterranean Sea on June 4, 2012.

Southwest Wildfires

This image shows the flame ring associated with wild fires in the Southwest move from bottom to top-center framed at a distance by the bright urban areas of Tucson, Phoenix, El Paso-Las Cruces, and finally Albuquerque (mostly under cloud). It was taken on June 2, 2012.

ISS and Caspian Sea

The Sor Kaydak near the northeast Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 31 crew member on the International Space Station. This image was taken May 11, 2012.

Fires with Soyuz Docked

This digital image from the Expedition 31 crew aboard the International Space Station is one of a series from a mounted, automated, and nighttime session of a still camera when viewed in sequence shows the flame-ring associated with wild fires in the Southwest slip by in the upper right while the lights of the El Paso-Las Cruces rise from bottom center. A Russian spacecraft is docked to the station on the June 2, 2012 image.

Expedtion 31 Shares a Meal

Expedition 31 crew members share a meal near the galley in the Zvezda Service Module of the International Space Station. The image was taken May 18, 2012.

Star Trails Seen from the ISS Cupola

Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken April 5, 2012.

Star Trails Seen from the ISS

Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken May 17, 2012.