expedition 44

Soyuz TMA-17M is a 2015 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 44 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-17M is the 126th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft; the first having occurred in 1967. The crew consists of a Russian commander accompanied by Japanese and American astronauts. The capsule is to remain docked to the space station for about five months until the scheduled departure of Expedition 45 in December 2015.

The Soyuz TMA-17M patch is inspired on the design of the Apollo 17 patch. The main element in this logo is a portrait of Sergei Korolev, the legendary 'main constructor', who shaped the early years of Soviet cosmonautics. He is depicted watching the Soyuz spacecraft on its celestial voyage, trailing three red lines. They symbolize the three crewmembers, but also represent the three manned craft that Korolev developed; Vostok, Voskhod and Soyuz. Behind the earth, a red sun rises. After the American Apollo element and the Russian Korolev item, the sun is Japan's element in this design. The constellation of Scorpio tops off the patch, with the star Antares highlighted, as this is the callsign for this particular Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.

Soyuz TMA-17M is a 2015 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 44 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-17M is the 126th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft; the first having occurred in 1967. The crew consists of a Russian commander accompanied by Japanese and American astronauts. The capsule is to remain docked to the space station for about five months until the scheduled departure of Expedition 45 in December 2015.

The Soyuz TMA-17M patch is inspired on the design of the Apollo 17 patch. The main element in this logo is a portrait of Sergei Korolev, the legendary 'main constructor', who shaped the early years of Soviet cosmonautics. He is depicted watching the Soyuz spacecraft on its celestial voyage, trailing three red lines. They symbolize the three crewmembers, but also represent the three manned craft that Korolev developed; Vostok, Voskhod and Soyuz. Behind the earth, a red sun rises. After the American Apollo element and the Russian Korolev item, the sun is Japan's element in this design. The constellation of Scorpio tops off the patch, with the star Antares highlighted, as this is the callsign for this particular Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.

Expedition 44 is scheduled to be the 44th expedition to the International Space Station.

Yury Lonchakov was originally supposed to be the commander of Expedition 44 following being Flight Engineer 3 on Expedition 43. However, he resigned from the Russian Federal Space Agency on September 6, 2013, to take a position at Gazprom.

This is the insignia for the Expedition 44 mission. The International Space Station is positioned in the foreground poised to study Earth, the sun and cosmos that lie beyond. Two members of the Expedition 44 crew will spend a full year on the ISS - providing valuable experience for future long duration missions into deep space. The 12 Earths represent the planet's position around the sun over the course of that year. Four of the Earths are silhouetted in sunlight representing the four month duration of Expedition 44. The nine stars in the background represent the nine individuals that will visit and work on the ISS during the course of the expedition, including the six-member crew, whose names are inscribed around the patch's border, and the three-person Soyuz "taxi" crew. The use of ellipses and circles throughout the patch reflect a theme of "completion" or "return," as investments made in this orbiting laboratory return benefit to the Earth and its inhabitants.