U.S. astronaut takes station command

A Russian cosmonaut handed over the command of the International Space Station to an American astronaut today as the 18th expedition to the orbiting outpost began in earnest 220 miles above Earth.

NASA astronaut Michael Fincke took the helm from Expedition 17 commander Sergei Volkov as his flight engineer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, rang a bell inside the station.

The longtime nautical tradition was started aboard the station by retired U.S. astronaut William Shepherd, the commander of the first expedition to the outpost in late 2000.

"I would like to congratulate Expedition 17 on an incredible mission. You guys did so much and you left the ship in really fine shape, and we're very proud to be able to take the ship and work with it hopefully as well as you have," said Fincke, who served as a flight engineer aboard the station in 2004.

"Sergei, you are an amazing, awesome commander; Oleg Dmitriyevich, you know everything -- you are the best engineer."

To make the handover official, Fincke stripped an Expedition 17 mission patch off the flight suit of U.S. astronaut Gregory Chamitoff and then replaced it with an Expedition 18 crew insignia.

Chamitoff flew up to the station on shuttle Discovery and joined the Expedition 17 crew in June. Chamitoff now will work with the Expedition 18 crew and then return to Earth aboard Endeavour, which is scheduled to launch Nov. 14 on a station outfitting mission.

Volkov, Kononenko and space tourist Richard Garriott -- the son of retired U.S. astronaut Owen Garriott -- will depart the station Thursday and make a return to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The flight will mark the first time second-generation space travelers have gone through an atmospheric reentry together. Volkov is the son of former Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov.

The departure of the Expedition 17 crew, their reentry and their landing in central Asia all will be webcast live here in The Flame Trench.

Look for live NASA TV coverage to begin at 4:45 p.m. EDT Thursday. Volkov, Kononenko and Garriott will climb aboard a Soyuz spacecraft docked at the station and close hatches between the spacecraft at about 5:15 p.m. EDT.

Live coverage of a planned 8:15 p.m. EDT Thursday undocking from the station will begin at 8 p.m., and we'll webcast live NASA TV coverage of the deobit and landing beginning at 10:30 p.m. EDT. Landing in Kazakhstan is scheduled at 10:44 p.m. EDT.

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge and save the NASA TV screen grab taken captured during the change-of-command ceremony aboard the International Space Station today. From left to right are Oleg Kononenko, Sergei Volkov, Gregory Chamitoff, Michael Fincke, Yury Lonchakov and Richard Garriott.