Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, will command the Expedition 19 mission and also serve as Soyuz commander. He previously served as commander of Expedition 9 in 2004. During Padalka's first stay at the International Space Station, he performed four spacewalks.
› Biography →Astronaut Michael Barratt will serve as a flight engineer for Expedition 19. He served as lead crew surgeon for the first Expedition crew to the station from July 1998 until he was selected as an astronaut candidate. This will be his first spaceflight.
› Biography →Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata flew to the station on STS-119 and will serve as a flight engineer for Expeditions 18, 19 and 20. Wakata is the first resident station crew member from JAXA. He will return to Earth on STS-127.
› Biography →Born in Budapest, Hungary, Simonyi studied mathematics and computer science in the United States. He runs his own software engineering firm and contributes frequently to education and the arts. Simonyi previously flew to the station in April 2007 as a spaceflight participant with the Expedition 15 crew.
› BiographyExpedition 19 launches to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz rocket.
› View This VideoVisit the Expedition 19 photo gallery.