The Missão Centenário was born of an agreement between the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Roscosmos on October 18, 2005.

[1] The name of the mission is a reference to the commemoration of the centenary of the first crewed flight of a Brazilian-designed aircraft, the Santos-Dumont 14-bis, in Paris on October 23, 1906.

The Missão Centenário was made possible by an commercial agreement[2] signed in October 2005 between Brazil and Russia, with representatives of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and Roscosmos.

Besides the Brazilian astronaut, the crew were the Russian Pavel Vinogradov and the American Jeffrey Williams, these two members of Expedition 13.

On April 3, 2006, an interview was broadcast in honour of Santos Dumont, in which Marcos Pontes used a Panama hat like the inventor and a handkerchief with the acronym "SD".

Col. Marcos Pontes and two other astronauts from Expedition 12 (Russian Valery Tokarev and American William McArthur) who were already on the ISS.

[15] As a celebration for this mission that was the first to bring a Brazilian astronaut into space, as well as being a tribute to the centenary of the first flight of an aircraft heavier than the air of Santos Dumont in Europe, stamps and a medal were released.