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Expedition 70

Expedition 70
Oleg Kononenko (orange t-shirt) along with his other Expedition 70 crew members (red t-shirts) and Axiom Mission 3 crew (black jumpsuits)
Mission typeLong-duration expedition
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration191 days and 20 hours
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began27 September 2023[1]
Ended6 April 2024
Arrived aboardSoyuz MS-24
SpaceX Crew-7
Soyuz MS-25
SpaceX Crew-8
Departed aboardSoyuz MS-24
SpaceX Crew-7
Crew
Crew size7
Members
EVAs2
EVA duration14 hours 23 minutes

Mission patch

Top row, from left: Chub, Borisov, Kononenko, Furukawa and O'Hara
Bottom row: Mogensen and Moghbeli

Expedition 70 was the 70th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023[2][3][4] with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen taking over the ISS command. It ended with the departure of Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024.[5]

Background, Crew and Events

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Initially, the expedition consisted of Andreas and his three SpaceX Crew-7 crewmates, Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov from America, Japan, and Russia respectively, as well as Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (who later assumed the ISS command) and Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission), and another American astronaut Loral O'Hara, who launched aboard Soyuz MS-24 on September 15, 2023 and were transferred from Expedition 69 alongside the SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts.[6]

However, even after several months of outfitting EVAs and RTOd heat radiator installation, six months later on 9 October 2023, the Nauka RTOd radiator malfunctioned before active use of Nauka (the purpose of RTOd installation is to radiate heat from Nauka experiments). The malfunction, a leak, rendered the RTOd radiator unusable for Nauka. This is the third ISS radiator leak after Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 radiator leaks. If a spare RTOd is not available, Nauka experiments will have to rely on Nauka's main launch radiator and the module could never be utilized to its full capacity.[7][8]

The crew was later replenished by subsequent crew rotation missions in the expedition, SpaceX Crew-8, consisting of American astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, and Soyuz MS-25, consisting of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian space tourist Marina Vasilevskaya, and American astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson.[5] Originally, the Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test was supposed to dock during the expedition. Instead, it was again moved farther down the vehicle schedule to May during Expedition 71.[9] The space station was also visited by a non-expedition crew, Axiom Mission 3, consisting of former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría (who previously commanded the station during Expedition 14), Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, ESA Swedish Project astronaut Marcus Wandt, and Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı.

Events manifest

[edit]

Events involving crewed spacecraft are listed in bold.

Previous mission: Expedition 69

27 September 2023 – Soyuz MS-23 Undocking, official switch from Expedition 69

9 October 2023 – Nauka outfitting RtoD Add-on Heat Radiator Leak Event

25/26 October 2023 – EVA 1 (VKD-61) Kononenko/Chub: 7 hrs, 41 mins[10]

1 November 2023 – EVA 2 (US-89) Moghbeli/O'Hara: 6 hrs, 42 mins[11]

11 November 2023 – CRS SpX-29 Docking

29 November 2023 – Progress MS-23/84P Undocking

3 December 2023 – Progress MS-25/86P Docking

21 December 2023 – CRS SpX-29 Undocking

22 December 2023 – CRS NG-19 Unberthing & Release

20 January 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Docking (Non-Expedition crew)

1 February 2024 – CRS Cygnus NG-20 Capture & Berthing

7 February 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Undocking (Non-Expedition crew)

13 February 2024 – Progress MS-24/85P Undocking

17 February 2024 – Progress MS-26/87P Docking[12]

5 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-8 Docking[13]

10 March 2024 – ISS Expedition 70 Change of Command Ceremony from Andreas Mogensen to Oleg Kononenko

11 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-7 Undocking

23 March 2024 – CRS SpX-30 Docking

25 March 2024 – Soyuz MS-25 Docking (Expedition 70/71 & ISS EP-21)

29 March 2024 – Kononenko and Chub's seat liner from Soyuz MS-24 swapped with Novitsky and Vasilevskaya's seat liner from Soyuz MS-25 for MS-24 landing[14]

6 April 2024 – Soyuz MS-24 Undocking, official switch to Expedition 71

Next: Expedition 71

Sources:[12][5][15]

Crew

[edit]
Flight[5] Astronaut Increment 70a Increment 70b Increment 70c Increment 70d
27 Sep 2023 - 5 Mar 2024 5 - 11 Mar 2024 11 - 25 Mar 2024 25 Mar - 6 Apr 2024
Soyuz MS-24 Russia Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight 		Flight Engineer Commander[16]
Russia Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight 		Flight Engineer
United States Loral O'Hara, NASA
First spaceflight 		Flight Engineer
SpaceX Crew-7 United States Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA
First spaceflight 		Flight Engineer Off Station
Denmark Andreas Mogensen, ESA
Second spaceflight 		Commander Off Station
Japan Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Second spaceflight 		Flight Engineer Off Station
Russia Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos
First spaceflight 		Flight Engineer Off Station
SpaceX Crew-8 United States Matthew Dominick, NASA
First spaceflight 		Off Station Flight Engineer
United States Michael Barratt, NASA
Third spaceflight 		Off Station Flight Engineer
United StatesJeanette Epps, NASA
First spaceflight 		Off Station Flight Engineer
Russia Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight 		Off Station Flight Engineer
Soyuz MS-25 United States Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, NASA
Third spaceflight 		Off Station Flight Engineer

Besides the expedition crew, Crew Dragon visited the station, carrying Axiom Mission 3, consisting of Michael López-Alegría of Axiom Space (formerly NASA), Walter Villadei of the Italian Ministry of Defence, Alper Gezeravcı of the Turkish Space Agency, and Marcus Wandt of the Swedish National Space Agency.[17]

The Soyuz MS-25 vehicle carried expedition member Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and visitors Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya, a flight attendant trained by the Belarus Space Agency for ISS EP-21. One week after docking, Novitsky and Vasilevskaya returned with expedition member Loral O'Hara on the Soyuz MS-24 vehicle. Meanwhile, Kononenko and Chub, who launched on MS-24, will return on the MS-25 vehicle.[5]

Vehicle manifest

[edit]

For the first time, during 25 March–6 April 2024, all seven currently active ports of ISS were occupied.[18]

Vehicle[5] Purpose Port Docking/capture date Undocking date
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 69
Russia Progress MS-23/84P Cargo Poisk zenith 24 May 2023 29 Nov 2023
United States CRS NG-19 Cargo Unity nadir 4 Aug 2023 22 Dec 2023
Russia Progress MS-24/85P Cargo Zvezda aft 25 Aug 2023 13 Feb 2024
United States SpaceX Crew-7 "Endurance" Exp. 69/70 crew Harmony zenith 27 Aug 2023 11 Mar 2024
Russia Soyuz MS-24/70S "Antares" Exp. 69/70 crew Rassvet nadir 15 Sep 2023 6 Apr 2024
Vehicles docked during Expedition 70
United States CRS SpX-29 Cargo Harmony forward 11 Nov 2023 21 Dec 2023
Russia Progress MS-25/86P Cargo Poisk zenith 3 Dec 2023 28 May 2024 (Exp. 71)
United States Ax-3 "Freedom" Visiting commercial mission Harmony forward 20 Jan 2024 7 Feb 2024
United States CRS NG-20 Cargo Unity nadir 1 Feb 2024 12 Jul 2024 (Exp. 71)
Russia Progress MS-26/87P Cargo Zvezda aft 17 Feb 2024 13 Aug 2024 (Exp. 71)
United States SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour" Exp. 70/71 crew Harmony forward 5 Mar 2024 23 Oct 2024 (Exp. 72)
United States CRS SpX-30 Cargo Harmony zenith 23 Mar 2024 28 Apr 2024 (Exp. 71)
Russia Soyuz MS-25/71S "Kazbek" Exp. 70/71 crew, Visiting Expedition 21 Prichal nadir 25 Mar 2024 23 Sep 2024 (Exp. 71)
Segment United States US Orbital Segment Russia Russian Segment
Period Harmony forward Harmony zenith Harmony nadir Unity nadir Rassvet nadir Prichal nadir Poisk zenith Zvezda aft
27 Sep–11 Nov 2023 Vacant SpaceX Crew-7 Vacant CRS NG-19 Soyuz MS-24/70S Vacant Progress MS-23/84P Progress MS-24/85P
11–29 Nov 2023 CRS SpX-29
29 Nov–3 Dec 2023 Vacant
3–21 Dec 2023 Progress MS-25/86P
21–22 Dec 2023 Vacant
22 Dec 2023–20 Jan 2024 Vacant
20 Jan–1 Feb 2024 Ax-3
1–7 Feb 2024 CRS NG-20
7–13 Feb 2024 Vacant
13–17 Feb 2024 Vacant
17 Feb–5 Mar 2024 Progress MS-26/87P
5–11 Mar 2024 SpaceX Crew-8
11–23 Mar 2024 Vacant
23–25 Mar 2024 CRS SpX-30
25 Mar–6 Apr 2024 Soyuz MS-25/71S

The Prichal aft, forward, starboard, and aft ports all have yet to be used since the module originally docked to the station and are not included in the table.

References

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  1. ^ Graf, Abby (27 September 2023). "Crewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocking Live on NASA TV". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  2. ^ Dinner, Josh (23 August 2023). "SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts will handle over 200 science experiments on ISS". Space.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Evans, Ben (10 September 2023). "Better Late Than Never: New ISS Crew Prepares to Fly, All-Female EVAs Possible in October". AmericaSpace.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ^ Graf, Abby (27 September 2023). "Crewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocking Live on NASA TV". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  6. ^ Shipkenov, Maxim. "Soyuz MS-24 preps continue days before launch". ABS-CBN. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023.
  7. ^ Robinson-Smith, Will. "Russian space station laboratory module appears to spring coolant leak – Spaceflight Now". Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Госкорпорация «Роскосмос»". Telegram. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  9. ^ Sturm, Karin (20 November 2023). "Stars aligning for Boeing crew launch in April". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  10. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (26 October 2023). "Cosmonauts on ISS spacewalk encounter coolant 'blob' while inspecting leaky radiator". Space.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  11. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (1 November 2023). "NASA astronauts complete 4th-ever all-female spacewalk outside International Space Station". Space.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. ^ Finch, Joshua; Cheshier, Leah, eds. (17 January 2024). "NASA Sets Briefings for Crew-8, International Space Station Missions" (Press release). NASA. M24-006. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Preparations for landing Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft underway". eng.belta.by. 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  15. ^ "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center. NASA. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  16. ^ Harwood, William (2024-03-11). "4 International Space Station crew members undock, head for Tuesday splashdown in Gulf of Mexico - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  17. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (13 December 2023). "SpaceX to launch 3rd private astronaut mission to the ISS for Axiom Space on Jan. 9". Space.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Soyuz MS-25 Crew Hatch Opening and Welcome Remarks | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.