ISS Starts Expedition 45

Scott Kelly, left, receives command of the ISS from Gennady Padalkin (in red). Picture credits NASA TV and NASA.

On Saturday, September 5, The astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station held a ceremony marking the change of command from the Expedition 44 commander, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, to astronaut Scott Kelly. Officially, the new expedition began on Sep. 11 when Padalka and flight engineers Andreas Mogensen (ESA) and Aidyn Ambetov (Kazakh Space Agency) undocked in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft. 

Padalka and crew landing in Kazakhstan.

The landing complete's Padalka's fifth space mission. He now holds a record of 879 total days spent in space. The other two returning voyagers were visitors to the ISS and not part of an ISS expedition. Mogensen is from the European Space Agency, while Ambetov is the third cosmonaut to fly from Kazakhstan.  New Expedition 45 commander Scott Kelly, along with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, is staying aboard the ISS for an entire year. Monday September 14 will mark the halfway-point for the long-duration mission.