The expedition started 13 March 2013, and marked the first time a Canadian astronaut – Colonel Chris Hadfield – was in command of the station.

The mission generated considerable media attention and turned Commander Chris Hadfield into a minor celebrity.

The expedition made extensive use of social media, and several videos uploaded to YouTube have generated millions of hits.

[5] Hadfield was also involved in the revealing of the Bank of Canada's new $5 note, part of the Frontier Series of polymer bills released in 2013.

On 11 May 11, 2013, Christopher Cassidy and Thomas Marshburn performed an unplanned spacewalk to replace a pump controller box suspected to be the source of an ammonia coolant leak.