ISS: Expedition 11

Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; landing 68 km northeast of Arkalyk.

The ISS expedition 11 was called a "caretaker" crew. Following a two day solo flight the Soyuz docked to ISS on 17.04.2005. Krikalyov and Phillips replaced the expedition 10 crew. Vittori performed scientific experiments as part of the European ENEIDE program.

The crew performed routine maintenance, repairing work (for example a faulty restraint cable on the exercise treadmill), scientific research, as FOOT experiment (Foot/Ground Reaction Forces During Spaceflight experiment) the Miscible Fluids in Microgravity (MFMG) investigation and so on, practicing photography techniques with digital cameras. This techniques were used to capture high resolution images of Space Shuttle Discovery before docking on the station to control the heat shield of the Shuttle.

On June 18, 2005 the unpiloted ISS Progress 18 docked on the Station to deliver more than two tons of food, fuel, oxygen, water, supplies and spare parts including repair efforts on the Elektron oxygen generation system. The Elektron, one of multiple sources of oxygen available on the Station, derives oxygen from water. The system had been inoperable for a few months. As the Progress approached the Station, Commander Sergei Krikalyov had to take over manual control of the docking of the Progress due to a Russian ground station problem that prevented commands to be uplinked to the cargo ship for its final approach for an automated docking.

On July 18, 2005 the crew relocated their Soyuz return spacecraft from one docking port to another to free up a Russian airlock for a future spacewalk.

On July 28, 2005 the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-114) docked on the Station after doing a planned back flip so station crewmembers could photograph its thermal protection system, there were some damages. The undocking of STS-114 was on 06.08.2005.

EVA by Krikalyov and Phillips on 18.08.2005 (4h 58m) to change out a Russian biological experiment, retrieve some radiation sensors, remove a Japanese materials science experiment, photograph a Russian materials experiment, install a television camera and relocate a grapple fixture.