Launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome; landing 42 km south of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan.

This spaceflight became the ISS expedition 7. The mission was called a "caretaker" crew. Following a two day solo flight Soyuz TMA-2 docked to ISS on April 28, 2003. Yuri Malenchenko and Edward Lu replaced the expedition 6 crew.

Due to the reduced crew size, the scientific work had to be scaled down as well. Periodic maintenance work (for example the station's toilet system, windows, spacesuits and more), upgrade work, training for spacewalks, although no spacewalk was planned. The cargo ship Progress M1-10 docked with the station in June 2003 and Progress M-48 in August 2003 with food, fuel, water, supplies and scientific gear, which had to be stowed.

During her stay on board of the ISS the crew of expedition 7 carried out the following scientific experiments:
Acoustika-M (Acoustical Investigation of Voice and Audio Links (Conncections) of the Crew on ISS),
ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station),
Biodegradation (Initial stage of Biodegradation and Biodeterioration in Space),
Biopsy (Effect of Prolonged Space Flight on Human Skeletal Muscle),
Biorisk (Influence of Factors of the Space Environment on the Condition of the System of Microorganisms-Hosts Relating to the Problem of Environmental Safety of Flight Techniques and Planetary Quarantine),
Biotest (Biochemical Status of Humans in Long Duration Space Flight),
Brados (Acquisition of Data About the Radiological, Electromagnetic and Different Physical Environments on Board ISS, and Their Effects on the Safety of the Crew, Space Equipment and Materials),
Cardio-ODNT (Dynamics of the Main Factors of Cardiac Function, of Central and Regional Circulation in Rest and During the Influence of Lower Body Negative Pressure),
CBOSS-FDI (Cellular Biotechnology Operations Support Systems: Fluid Dynamics Investigation),
CEO (Crew Earth Observations),
Chromosome-1 (Chromosomal Aberrations in Blood Lymphocytes of Astronauts-1),
Clinical Nutrition Assessment (Clinical Nutrition Assessment of ISS Astronauts, SMO-016E),
Conjugation (Development of Methods for Designing New Recombinants Producing Strains of Bacteria in Space Flight),
CSLM-2 (Coarsening in Solid Liquid Mixtures-2),
Diatomeya (Stability of Geographical Position and Configuration of Borders of Bioproductive Water Zones of the World Oceans, Observations by Orbition Station Crews),
Diurez (Fluid and Electrolyte Metabolism and Hormonal Regulaltion of Fluid Volume),
EarthKAM (Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students),
Environmental Monitoring (Environmental Monitoring of the International Space Station),
EPO (Education Payload Operations),
EPO-Demos (Education Payload Operation - Demonstrations),
EPO-Scientific Principles-Demos (Education Payload Operations-Scientific Principles-Demonstrations),
Farma (Characteristics of Pharmacological Responses (absorption, distribution and elimination of acetominophene) in Long Duration Space Flight),
Gematologia (Morphofunctional Characteristic of Blood Cells and the Intensity of Erythropoiesis in Humans by the Influence of Factors of Space Flight),
HPA (Hand Posture Analyzer),
Identifikatsia (Identification of the Sources of Dynamic Loads on ISS),
Inflight Education Downlinks (International Space Station Inflight Education Downlinks),
InSPACE (Investigating the Structure of Paramagnetic Aggregates from Colloidal Emulsions),
Interactions (Crewmember and Crew-Ground Interaction During International Space Station Missions),
Iskazheniye (Determination and Analysis of Magnetic Interference on ISS),
ISSI (In Space Soldering Investigation),
ISS Acoustics (International Space Station Acoustic Measurement Program),
Izgib (Effect of Performance of Flight and Science Activities on the Function of On-Orbit Systems on ISS (Mathematical Model)),
JAXA-GCF (Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency - Granada Crystallization Facility High Quality Protein Crystallization Project),
Kromka (Verification of the Effectiveness of Devices for the Protection of the Exterior Surface of ISS from Contaminants Deposited by Pulsed Cycling of Liquid-Jet),
Meteoroid (Recording Meteoroidal and Technogenic Particles on the External Surface of the Service Module of the Russian Segment of ISS),
Mezhkletochnoe Vzaimodeistvie (Intercellular Interactions in Space Flight),
MISSE-1 and 2 (Materials International Space Station Experiment - 1 and 2),
Mobility (Promoting Sensorimotor Response Generalizability: A Countermeasure to Mitigate Locomotor Dysfunction After Long-Duration Space Flight),
Molniya-SM (Investigation of Lightning Discharges in the Earth's Atmosphere and Lower Ionosphere),
MSK (Cultivation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Bone Marrow in Space Flight),
Paradont (Condition of Peridontal Tissues in Space Flight),
PCG-STES-RGE (Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System-Regulation of Gene Expression),
PCG-STES-SA (Protein Crystal Growth-Single Locker Thermal Enclosure System-Science and Applications of Facility Hardware for Protein Crystal Growth),
PFMI (Toward Understanding Pore Formation and Mobility During Controlled Directional Solidification in a Microgravity Environment),
Pilot (Individual Characteristics of Psychophysiological Regulatory Status and Reliaility of Professional Activities of Cosmonauts in Long Duration Space Flight),
Plasma Crystal (Dusty and Liquid Plasma Crystals in Conditions of Microgravity),
Platan (Search for Low Energy Heavy Particles of Solar and Galactic Origin),
Poligen (Revealing Genotypical Characteristics, Defining Individual Differences in Resistance of Biological Oranisms to Factors of Long Duration Space Flight),
Privyazka (Development of High Precision Orientation of Scientific Devices in Space with Reports of Deformation of the ISS Hull),
Profilaktika (Mechanisms of Action and Influence, and Effectiveness of Various Methods of Phrophylaxis Directed Toward Prevention of Disturbances of the Human Locomotion System in Weightlessness),
Prognoz (Development of a Method of Operational Prediction of Work Load on Crew Piloting Objectives),
Pulse (Vegatative (Autonomic) Regulation of the Cardio-Respiratory System of Humans in Conditions of Weightlessness),
Rastenia (Growth and Development of Higher Plants through Multiple Generations),
SKR (Skorpion: Development and Acquisition of Multifunctional Control-Measurement Device for Controlling the Environment of Scientific Experiments Inside a Pressurized Station),
Sprut-MBI (Determination of Intracellular and Extracellular Fluid Volume in Humans in Space Flight),
Starmail (ISS Russian Segment Downlink of Text Messages and Earth Pictures),
Subregional Bone (Subregional Assessment of Bone Loss in the Axial Skeleton in Long-term Space Flight),
Tenzor (Definition of Dynamic Characteristics of ISS),
Uragan (Hurricane: Experimental Development of Groundbased System of Monitoring and Predicting the Progression of a Naturally Occurring Technogenic Catastrophe),
Vektor-T (Study of a High Precision System for Prediction Motion of ISS).