Expedition 46 is scheduled to be the 46th expedition to the International Space Station.
Sergey Volkov, Mikhail Korniyenko and Scott Kelly are to transfer from Expedition 45, the latter two as part of their year-long stay aboard the ISS. Expedition 46 is scheduled to begin upon the departure of Soyuz TMA-17M in November 2015 and conclude upon the departure of Soyuz TMA-18M in March 2016. The crew of Soyuz TMA-19M are then to transfer to Expedition 47.
The 46 icon in the foreground of the Expedition 46 patch represents the forty-sixth expeditionary mission to the International Space Station. The graphic portrays the limb of the home planet, Earth, with the black vastness of space in the background. Earth is depicted at the top with the flags of the countries of origin of the crew members: the United States of America, Russia and the United Kingdom. The flag of the U.K. is displayed in a position of prominence in recognition of the significance of the first British astronaut flown in space for the European Space Agency. The outer border is in the shape of a triangle with an unbroken border, symbolizing the infinite journey of discovery for past, present and future space explorers. The names of the six Expedition 46 astronauts and cosmonauts are shown in the border.
After production had started on the patch, a decision was made to not go with the design.
Due to production delays by the official supplier, A-B Emblem, Spaceboosters Limited in the UK had their own version produced. You can purchase this patch at Spaceboosters Web Store.
