For the first time since it started participating in the International Space Station (ISS) project, the European Space Agency (ESA) has one of its own astronauts as station Commander. On Sunday, Frank de Winne, from Belgium, officially became the leader of Expedition 21, as former Commander Gennady Padalka returned to Earth. The former chief left the station aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 aircraft accompanied by NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, and space tourist Guy Laliberte, Space reports.

“I've always been proud to be European. Europeans, of course, have a big heritage as explorers. It's a big honor for me to be the first European commander of the International Space Station,” de Winne said yesterday in a press conference, from aboard the orbital facility. De Winne, who is 48 years old, is the first astronaut to break the Russian/American “lineage” of space-station commanders. He launched to the lab in May, and is scheduled to return home in November, when his six-month stay ends.

Although he will command the ISS only briefly, the station has a very active schedule ahead. During his “term,” the Russian space agency RosCosmos will deliver the new Mini Research Module 2, and attach it to the station. The segment will serve as an additional airlock and docking bay, and should ease the traffic-congestion problems at the facility. For instance, as Laliberte enjoyed his stay on orbit, three Soyuz capsules were docked at various bays, and no other ports were available for the Progress unmanned vehicle, which had to be deorbited over the Pacific Ocean.

Additionally, new spare parts and supplies will be brought to the ISS aboard space shuttle Atlantis in November. The STS-129 flight will mark the last time an ISS expedition crew member flies home on a shuttle, as NASA plans to stick to its schedule of decommissioning its spacecraft fleet in late 2010. All other runs to orbit will carry supplies, meant to get the station over any hazards it may encounter. The Russian Soyuz capsules are unable to carry the massive pieces of equipment that the shuttles can.

“[De Winne] is the right guy for the job. I think he's going to be very effective as the commander of Expedition 21 and already has proven so,” NASA astronaut Jeff Williams, who is scheduled to become the next ISS Commander this November, when Expedition 22 starts, said. “Hopefully we will get a very successful HTV mission, which so far has been extremely successful. It shows that the international cooperation and the international partnership on ISS is working well,” de Winne added.

Other members of Expedition 21 include flight engineers Nicole Stott (NASA), Roman Romanenko (RosCosmos), Robert Thirsk, of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and Maxim Suraev (RosCosmos).