Editing Expedition 8 (section)

==Mission objectives==
Expedition 8 Commander and NASA Station Science Officer Michael Foale, Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri and [[European Space Agency|ESA]] Astronaut [[Pedro Duque]] docked the '''[[Soyuz TMA-3]]''' with the International Space Station at 07:15:58 UTC on 20 October 2003.<ref name="missionrep53" /> At the time of docking, both spacecraft orbited the Earth above Russia.

Once the Expedition 7 crew undocked, Foale and Kaleri settled down to work, beginning a more than six-month stint focused on Station operations and maintenance.

The new station crew, along with Duque, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 05:38:03 UTC, on 18 October 2003.<ref name="missionrep52">{{cite web |last1=Petty |first1=John Ira |title=International Space Station Status Report #03-52 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2003/iss03-52.html |website=NASA News |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423140955/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2003/iss03-52.html |archive-date=23 April 2021 |date=18 October 2003 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Foale and Kaleri departed the station for earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft on 29 April 2004 along with ESA Astronaut [[André Kuipers]], who had arrived with the [[Expedition 9]] crew aboard [[Soyuz TMA-4]] nine days earlier.<ref name="missionrep23">{{cite web |last1=Petty |first1=John Ira |title=International Space Station Status Report #04-23 |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2004/iss04-23.html |website=NASA News |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=23 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423141213/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/station/2004/iss04-23.html |archive-date=23 April 2021 |date=29 April 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref>