space station, the window of radio contact only lasted for 5–10 minutes, which was usually enough for 10 to 20 questions. Science activities Unlike subsequent expeditions, the crew of Expedition 1 had a somewhat modest amount of science experiments to conduct, due to the priority placed on station construction. The plasma crystal experiment, known as PKE-Nefedov, was one of the first natural science experiments conducted on the space station. It was a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, and the Institute for High Energy Densities (part of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Like previous missions, the astronauts took many photos of Earth from the station, over 700 in total, which have been made freely available. These Crew Earth Observations, are intended to record dynamic events on the Earth's surface such as storms, fires, or volcanoes. For example, a photo of 1 January 2001 shows Mount Cleveland, Alaska, with a plume of smoke, prior to its eruption the following month. On 23 January 2001, the crew observed a unique perspective of a plume of volcanic ash coming from Popocatépetl, an active volcano 70 kilometres southeast of Mexico City. An example of a low-maintenance experiment was the protein crystal growth experiment, which had also been flown on previous shuttle missions. The goal was to produce better protein crystallizations than those produced on the Earth, and hence allowing for a more accurate model of protein structures. Of the 23 proteins and viruses attempted during Expedition 1, only four resulted in successful crystallizations, which was a lower success rate than predicted. Of those successful was the low-calorie sweetener Thaumatin, whose crystals diffracted at a higher resolution than Earth-grown crystal, which resulted in a more accurate protein structure model. Another research activity was measuring the crew's heart rates and the station's carbon dioxide levels to determine the effect of exercise on the station. IMAX filming Throughout the mission the Expedition 1 crew filmed footage for use in the IMAX documentary film, Space Station 3D. Highlights of the footage include the first entry into the Destiny module, during STS-98; the Expedition 1 crew showering and shaving in zero gravity; and the docking of STS-102, followed by the change over to the Expedition 2 crew. References NASA External links Expedition 1 Photography All the photos taken aboard the ISS during Expedition 1 Expedition 01 2000 in spaceflight 2001 in spaceflight 2000 in