ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter is the first European astronaut to undertake a long-duration mission to the International Space Station. He was launched into space on Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-121 on 4 July 2006.
Shortly after arrival Thomas became a member of the Expedition 13 crew. In September the crew rotation took place and Thomas joined Expedition 14.
The Astrolab mission lasted five and a half months, concluding when Thomas returned to Earth with Shuttle mission STS-116, landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, on 22 December 2006.
STS-121 Crew
Commander Steve Lindsey (NASA)
Pilot Mark Kelly (NASA)
Mission Specialist Mike Fossum (NASA)
Mission Specialist Lisa Nowak (NASA)
Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson (NASA)
Mission Specialist Piers Sellers (NASA)
Mission Specialist Thomas Reiter (ESA)
Launch STS-121
Arrival at the International Space Station
*A third spacewalk was scheduled for Flight Day 9 (Wednesday 12 July) and the STS-121 mission was extended by one day.
On the Station
On 20 September 2006 the next Expedition arrived at the Station on the Soyuz TMA-9 vehicle - shortly after their arrival Thomas became a member of Expedition 14.
After the crew exchange, Vinogradov and Williams returned to Earth with the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft together with space tourist Anousheh Ansari. Thomas remained on the Station as Flight Engineer 2 for Expedition 14.
Sunita Williams replaced Thomas Reiter as Expedition 14 Flight Engineer 2 on 11 December 2006 shortly after her arrival with Discovery. At that point Reiter became a member of the STS-116 descent crew.
Landing
Thomas returned to Earth on Space Shuttle Discovery with the rest of the STS-116 crew.
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