Soyuz TM-31

File:Soyuz tm-31 transported to launch pad.jpg

Soyuz TM-31 is transported to the Launch Pad at the Baikonur complex, 29 October 2000

Soyuz TM-31 was the first Soyuz spaceflight to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The spacecraft carried the members of Expedition 1, the first long-duration ISS crew. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 07:52 UT on October 31, 2000, by a Soyuz-U rocket.

The crew consisted of Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, and American astronaut William Shepherd. Gidzenko was commander of the flight up, but once aboard the station, Shepherd became commander of the long-duration mission Expedition 1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is notable for beginning the continuous occupation of space from October 31, 2000 to the present.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>