Soyuz TMA-04M was a spaceflight to Low Earth orbit that transported three members of the Expedition 31 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), which was launched on 15 May 2012 and landed on 17 September 2012.[3] TMA-04M was the Soyuz spacecraft's 113th flight since its initial launch in 1967, and the fourth launch of the improved Soyuz TMA-M series (first launched 7 October 2010). As per the mission plan, the spacecraft remained docked to the space station to serve as an emergency escape vehicle during Expedition 31.

The mission was successfully launched to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, 15 May 2012, at 3:01:23 UTC (9:01:23 local time). The Soyuz docked successfully with the ISS on 17 May at 4:36 UTC.[6] The spacecraft carried to the ISS a three-person crew (Gennady Padalka, Russia; Sergei Revin, Russia; Joseph Acaba, United States). The mission landed successfully in Kazakhstan on 17 September 2012, at 2:53 UTC.

The Soyuz is a Soviet crewed spacecraft, developed to perform lunar missions with crew. This version called 7K will fly 4 times on the giant launcher N1, and several tens of times on Proton to fly over the Moon, which will be successful during the mission Zond 4. Soyuz will become the first spacecraft to transport living beings on the Moon during the flight of Zond 5, with two turtles. Thereafter, it is adapted to the low orbit and will fly on the Soyuz launcher to supply the Soviet Salyut and Mir stations, and the ISS.