Expedition_66

Expedition 66

Expedition 66

Long-duration mission to the International Space Station

Expedition 66 was the 66th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began after the departure of Soyuz MS-18 on 17 October 2021.[2] It was commanded by European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the fourth European astronaut to command the ISS and first French astronaut to command the orbital laboratory[3] until 8 November 2021 when Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, who arrived aboard Soyuz MS-19 and took over his command.[4]

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The crews from Expedition 66 crew (2nd and 3rd row) with non-expedition Soyuz MS-20 crew (1st row).

Pesquet was transported to the ISS on SpaceX Crew-2 in April 2021, joined by NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.[5] Crew-2 from Expedition 65 extended their tour of duty on the ISS to become part of Expedition 66,[6] along with Russian cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who both launched on Soyuz MS-18 and returned to Earth on Soyuz MS-19, following their extended mission. Russian cosmonaut Shkaplerov launched on Soyuz MS-19, along with two participants in the joint film project between Roscosmos and Channel One, The Challenge: film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild.

SpaceX Crew-3, launched 10 November 2021, carried NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer to the ISS.[7] At the end of Expedition 66, they remained on the ISS as part of Expedition 67 while Dubrov and Vande Hei returned to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-19.[8] However, continued international collaboration has been thrown into doubt by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions on Russia.[9]

Crew

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Notes

  1. The European portion of SpaceX Crew-2 is called Alpha and is headed by Thomas Pesquet.
  2. The European portion of SpaceX Crew-3 is called Cosmic Kiss, which is headed by Matthias Maurer.

References

  1. [1]
    "ISS Expedition 66". spacefacts.de. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. [2]
    "NASA Television Upcoming Events". 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  3. [3]
    York, Joanna (2021-03-19). "French astronaut next International Space Station commander". www.connexionfrance.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  4. [4]
    "Space Launch Now - ISS Expedition 66 Change of Command Ceremony".
  5. [5]
    Gohd, Chelsea (23 April 2021). "SpaceX's Crew-2 launch lights up the predawn sky with a spectacular show (photos)". Space.com. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  6. [6]
    "Alpha 2021" (PDF). esamultimedia.esa.int. European Space Agency. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  7. [7]
    "NASA, SpaceX Adjust Crew-2 Station Departure Date". 8 November 2021.
  8. [8]
    "Soyuz MS-19 to send a "movie crew" to ISS". www.russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 2021-10-04.
  9. [9]
    Witze, Alexandra (11 March 2022). "Russia's invasion of Ukraine is redrawing the geopolitics of space". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-00727-x. PMID 35277688. S2CID 247407886. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  10. [10]
    "NASA SpaceX Crew-2 to Discuss Station Mission, Upcoming Splashdown". NASA. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
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