November 2, 2000

Expedition 1

Expedition 1 arrives at the ISS, beginning continuous occupancy

Three men moved into a station of three modules, about 3 kilowatts of power, and less pressurized room than many one-bedroom apartments.

Docked at 3:21, inside at 4:23

Two days after launching from Baikonur, Soyuz TM-31 docked with the aft port of the ISS's Zvezda service module at 3:21 a.m. CST on 2 November 2000, carrying William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.

Pressure equalization and a stubborn Soyuz hatch held them up for about an hour; the station hatch opened at 4:23.

Krikalev went through first, switching on lights as he floated into the dark Zvezda module. Gidzenko and Shepherd followed.

A small outpost with the lights just on

The station then consisted of three modules — Zarya, Unity and Zvezda — with less than 200 cubic metres of pressurized volume and about 3 kilowatts of available electrical power.

Zvezda had supplied the living quarters, life-support capability and docking port a permanent crew needed. The three residents planned a stay of about four months.

They began at once installing and activating life-support, communications and other equipment, and preparing for resupply and visiting assembly missions.

Which day "Expedition 1 begins" means

The phrase covers two different dates. NASA lists the launch as 31 October and the docking as 2 November; the event dated here is the docking, the entry and the start of continuous occupancy.

The milestone was uninterrupted occupancy of the ISS, not the first long human stay aboard any space station — Soviet and Russian stations had hosted long-duration crews earlier.

A previous shuttle crew had left a sign on Zvezda's toilet reading, “Sanitized for your safety and health.”

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 6 sources not yet audited

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

NASA lists Expedition 1’s launch as October 31 and its docking as November 2. Thus November 2 is the start of ISS occupancy and on-station operations, not the launch date of the expedition spacecraft.