query: start_time expedition 21
supports: Ledeberg is a submunicipality of the city of Ghent. It lies south-east of downtown Ghent and has direct access to the E17 road.
  Its population is 13,974 inhabitants (2005). The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit. Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest artificial body in orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS consists of pressurised modules, external trusses, solar arrays, and other components. ISS components have been launched by Russian Proton and Soyuz rockets, and American Space Shuttles. The Belgian Air Component is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces. The Belgian military aviation was founded in 1909 and is one of the world's first air services. Frank, Viscount De Winne (born 25 April 1961, in Ledeberg, Belgium) is a Belgian Air Component officer and an ESA astronaut. He is Belgium's second person in space (after Dirk Frimout). He was the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission when he served as commander of ISS Expedition 21. ESA astronaut de Winne serves currently as Head of the European Astronaut Centre of the European Space Agency in Cologne/Germany (Köln). The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was "Space Transportation System (STS)", taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Operational missions launched numerous satellites, interplanetary probes, and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST); conducted science experiments in orbit; and participated in construction and servicing of the International Space Station. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds. Dirk Dries David Damiaan, Viscount Frimout (born 21 March 1941 in Poperinge, Belgium) is an astrophysicist for the European Space Agency. He flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mision STS-45 as a payload specialist, making him the first Belgian in space. Expedition 21 was the 21st long - duration mission to the International Space Station ( ISS ) . The expedition began on 30 September 2009 , with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission . The handover between Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 required three Soyuz vehicles being docked to the station at the same time , the first time this has occurred . Soyuz TMA - 16 brought the final members of Expedition 21 to the ISS , along with space tourist Guy Laliberté . Laliberté returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA - 14 with two members of Expedition 20 on 11 October 2009 . Nicole P. Stott was the last ISS expedition crew member to fly on the Space Shuttle . She returned to Earth aboard STS - 129 in November 2009 . The European Space Agency (ESA ASE) is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, with 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 and an annual budget of about €5.25 billion / US$5.77 billion (2016). Expedition 21 was the 21st long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began on 30 October 2009, with Frank de Winne becoming the first ESA astronaut to command a space mission. A space station, also known as an orbital station or an orbital space station, is a spacecraft capable of supporting crewmembers, which is designed to remain in space (most commonly as an artificial satellite in low Earth orbit) for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by lack of major propulsion or landing systems. Instead, other vehicles transport people and cargo to and from the station. three space stations are in orbit: the International Space Station, which is permanently manned, China's Tiangong-1 (defunct) and Tiangong-2 (launched 15 September 2016, not permanently manned). Previous stations include the Almaz and Salyut series, Skylab, and most recently "Mir".
candidates: 1909 1941 1961 1969 1975 1981 1998 2005 2009 2016 30 october 2009
answer: 30 october 2009