Expedition 32

Expedition 32 was a 2012 International Space Station resident increment commanded by Roscosmos cosmonaut Gennady Padalka. The expedition began after Soyuz TMA-03M departed on July 1, 2012, leaving the Soyuz TMA-04M crew of Padalka, Sergei Revin, and Joseph Acaba aboard the station. Soyuz TMA-05M arrived later in July with Yuri Malenchenko, Sunita Williams, and Akihiko Hoshide, restoring six-person operations. The crew supported station research, maintenance, robotics, visiting vehicles, and external systems work during a busy summer on orbit. Expedition 32 included HTV-3 operations and U.S. and Russian spacewalk activity, while also setting up the crew handover that would make Williams the Expedition 33 commander. The increment ended when Padalka, Revin, and Acaba returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-04M, leaving Malenchenko, Williams, and Hoshide aboard for Expedition 33.