Expedition 12

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title: "Expedition 12" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["expeditions-to-the-international-space-station", "2005-in-spaceflight", "2006-in-spaceflight"] description: "12th expedition to the International Space Station" topic_path: "general/expeditions-to-the-international-space-station" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_12" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 12th expedition to the International Space Station ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox spaceflight"]

Field	Value
name	Expedition 12
image	Expedition 12 crew poster.jpg
image_caption	Promotional poster
insignia	ISS Expedition 12 Patch.svg
insignia_caption	Expedition 12 mission patch
mission_type	Long-duration expedition
mission_duration	187 days, 14 hours, 1 minute (at ISS)
189 days, 19 hours, 53 minutes (launch to landing)
orbits_completed	2,987
crew_size	2
crew_members	William S. McArthur
Valeri I. Tokarev
crew_EVAs	2
crew_EVA_duration	11 hours, 5 minutes
crew_photo	ISS Expedition 12 crew.jpg
crew_photo_caption	William S. McArthur, Jr. (United States left), Valeri I. Tokarev (Russia right)
space_station	International Space Station
start_date	UTC
end_date	UTC
arrival_craft	Soyuz TMA-7
departure_craft	Soyuz TMA-7
previous_mission	Expedition 11
next_mission	Expedition 13
programme	ISS expeditions
::

| name = Expedition 12 | image = Expedition 12 crew poster.jpg | image_caption = Promotional poster | insignia = ISS Expedition 12 Patch.svg | insignia_caption = Expedition 12 mission patch | mission_type = Long-duration expedition | mission_duration = 187 days, 14 hours, 1 minute (at ISS) 189 days, 19 hours, 53 minutes (launch to landing) | orbits_completed = 2,987 | crew_size = 2 | crew_members = William S. McArthur Valeri I. Tokarev | crew_EVAs = 2 | crew_EVA_duration = 11 hours, 5 minutes | crew_photo = ISS Expedition 12 crew.jpg | crew_photo_caption = William S. McArthur, Jr. (United States left), Valeri I. Tokarev (Russia right) | space_station = International Space Station | start_date = UTC | end_date = UTC | arrival_craft = Soyuz TMA-7 | departure_craft = Soyuz TMA-7 | previous_mission = Expedition 11 | next_mission = Expedition 13 | programme = ISS expeditions Expedition 12 (2005) was the 12th expedition to the International Space Station, launched from Kazakhstan using the Russian Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft. The crew landed back in Kazakhstan on 8 April 2006 with the addition of the first Brazilian astronaut, Marcos Pontes.

American entrepreneur Gregory Olsen was launched in the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft and returned with Expedition 11 on Soyuz TMA-6 on 11 October 2005 thereby becoming the third space tourist.

Crew

| crew = prime | terminology = Astronaut

| position1 = Commander | crew1_up = USA William S. McArthur | flights1_up = Fourth and last | agency1_up = NASA

| position2 = Flight Engineer 1 | crew2_up = RUS Valeri I. Tokarev | flights2_up = Second and last | agency2_up = RSA

Mission parameters

• Perigee:
• Apogee:
• **Inclination: **51.6 degrees
• Orbital period:

Mission objectives

Station assembly preparations, maintenance and science in microgravity.

Spacewalks

There were two spacewalks outside the ISS during Expedition 12. McArthur and Tokarev participated in both of them.

EVA 1

The first EVA was on 7 November 2005 for 5 hours and 22 minutes. There were two main objectives, both of which were completed. The first was to install and set up a new camera on the P1 Truss which was later used in the installation of more truss segments. The second was to jettison the Floating Potential Probe which was a failed instrument, designed to measure the station's electrical potential and compare it to the surrounding plasma.

EVA 2

The second spacewalk took place on 3 February 2006 and lasted 5 hours and 43 minutes. The astronauts jettisoned an old Russian Orlan spacesuit, named SuitSat-1, that was equipped with a radio for broadcasts to students around the world. The suit reached the end of its operation life in 2004. They also retrieved the Biorisk experiment, photographed a sensor for a micrometeoroid experiment, and tied off the surviving umbilical of the mobile transporter.

Solar eclipse

Main article: Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Solar_eclipse_from_space_29_Mar_2006.jpg" caption="Solar eclipse from space 29 Mar 2006]] On 29 March 2006 a total [[solar eclipse]] took place, and the adjacent picture was taken by the Expedition 12 crew. It clearly shows the shadow of the [[Moon]] being cast on the [[Earth]]."] ::

Concert

While wake-up music is a tradition aboard space shuttle missions, the ISS crew generally use an alarm clock to wake up. Expedition 12 astronauts received a special treat on 3 November 2005 when Paul McCartney performed Good Day Sunshine and English Tea in a first ever concert linkup from the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California on his US tour. The event was broadcast live on NASA TV.{{cite news |first=Colin |last=Fries |title=Chronology of Wakeup Calls |date=25 June 2007 |publisher=NASA |url=https://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf |pages=73 |quote=STS-5, STS-41-G |access-date=13 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605034025/http://history.nasa.gov/wakeup%20calls.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2010

References

References

1. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4298814.stm BBC.news: ''Space tourist blasts off to ISS''], accessed last 11 March 2011
2. "NASA: ''EVA 1 - Spacewalkers Install New Camera Assembly, Jettison FPP''".
3. "NASA: ''EVA 2 - Crew Back in Station After Spacewalk''".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::