It began on 10 November 2014 with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-13M, returning the crew of Expedition 41 to Earth and ended with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-14M on 11 March 2015.

[1] One of the key aspects of Mission 42 - and other missions in 2015 - is the preparation (that is, reconfiguration) of parts of the ISS to allow commercial space taxis to dock at the station.

The mission requires several space walks in 2015 to prepare a berthing slip is being prepared at the forward end of the Harmony connecting node where Space Shuttles formerly docked, and another on Harmony's zenith port.

These new ports will allow for the Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon capsules to dock at the ISS.

The first paid passengers are expected to arrive in 2019.