ISS Expedition 65
Promotional poster
Mission typeLong-duration mission to the ISS
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration182 days, 23 hours and 39 minutes
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began17 April 2021, 01:34:04 UTC[1]
Ended17 October 2021, 01:14 UTC[1]
Arrived aboardSpaceX Crew-1
Soyuz MS-18
SpaceX Crew-2
Soyuz MS-19
Departed aboardSpaceX Crew-1
Soyuz MS-18
Crew
Crew size7-11
Members
EVAs≥4 (planned)[3][4]
7[1]
EVA duration50 hours[1]

Expedition 65 mission patch

Expedition 65 crew portrait
 

Expedition 65 was the 65th long duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began on 17 April 2021, with the departure of Soyuz MS-17,[5] and was initially commanded by NASA astronaut Shannon Walker serving as the third female ISS commander, who launched in November 2020 aboard SpaceX Crew-1 alongside NASA astronauts Michael S. Hopkins and Victor J. Glover,[6] as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They were joined by the crew of Soyuz MS-18, which is made up of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.[7]

In accordance with Crew Dragon Resilience's departure on May 2, 2021, Crew-1's crew was replaced by the crew of SpaceX Crew-2, which launched on April 23, 2021. JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide took Walker's place as station commander, making Walker the shortest-serving ISS commander - holding the position for just 11 days. From October 4, 2021 ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet surpassed Hoshide as commander, becoming the fourth European astronaut to command the ISS, and the first French astronaut to command the orbital laboratory.[8] The expedition ended with the departure of Soyuz MS-18 on October 17, 2021.[9]

Visiting modules, vehicles, crews, and spacewalks

View of Earth taken during ISS Expedition 65

Expedition 65 occurred during a very busy time in the ISS's schedule, with the Expedition expected to host two SpaceX Crew Dragon missions, Crew-1, Crew-2, as well as two Soyuz flights, Soyuz MS-18 and Soyuz MS-19.

When the Expedition began, with the undocking of Soyuz MS-17 in April 2021, two vehicles were present on the station, Crew Dragon Resilience, carrying the SpaceX Crew-1 crew, and the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft. Crew-1 mission specialist Shannon Walker initially commanded the station until she and her three crewmates, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Soichi Noguchi, departed the station following the arrival of Crew Dragon Endeavour, carrying SpaceX Crew-2 in April 2021. Following the departure of Crew-1, Crew-2 mission specialist Akihiko Hoshide took over as station commander, making him the second Japanese citizen to command the ISS. On 5 October 2021, Soyuz MS-19 launched, carrying Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, film director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild. The latter two spent 12 days onboard the station as part of a movie project.

Three spacewalks were conducted by Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough on 16, 20, and 25 June from the US Orbital Segment (USOS) of the space station to install the first two Roll Out Solar Arrays (iROSA) for the station.[4][10] They were delivered by SpaceX CRS-22 on 3 June 2021.[11] The June 16 spacewalk to place an array on the 2B power channel and mast can of the P6 truss[12] was successful until three hours into the task, when Kimbrough's suit encountered a computer problem and the spacewalkers had to return to the Quest airlock. The iROSA also encountered technical problems with deployment, resulting in the spacewalk being cut short early, having lasted 7 hours and 15 minutes.[13][1]

The 20 June spacewalk, begun at 11:42 UTC and lasting 6 hours and 28 minutes, saw the first iROSA's successful deployment and connection to the station's power system.[14][15][1] The 25 June spacewalk, begun at 11:52 UTC and lasting 6 hours and 45 minutes, saw the astronauts successfully install and deploy the second iROSA on the 4B mast can opposite the first iROSA.[16][1]

One more spacewalk, comprising a plasma measuring instrument replacement and a bracket installation on the P4 Truss for the next iROSA pair, was planned for 24 August, to be conducted by Akihiko Hoshide and Mark Vande Hei.[9] It was postponed to 12 September after Vande Hei encountered "minor medical issues".[17] He was replaced by Thomas Pesquet. The spacewalk began at 13:15 UTC and lasted six hours and 45 minutes.[18]

Three spacewalks were conducted by Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov from the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) to facilitate the installation of Nauka with the European Robotic Arm aboard the station, as well as prepare the new module for the arrival of the Prichal docking node, which is scheduled to arrive during Expedition 66.[19] One spacewalk was conducted on 2 June beginning at 5:53 UTC and lasted 7 hours and 19 minutes.[20][1] Two more were conducted on 3 and 9 September, the former beginning at 14:41 UTC and lasting 7 hours and 54 minutes, and the latter beginning at 14:51 UTC and lasting 7 hours and 25 minutes.[9][19]

Crew

Flight Astronaut First part
(17 April – 24 April 2021)		 Second part
(24 April – 2 May 2021)		 Third part
(2 May – 4 October 2021)		 Fourth part
(4 October – 5 October 2021)		 Fifth part
(5 October – 17 October 2021)
SpaceX Crew-1 United States Shannon Walker, NASA
Second spaceflight		 Commander Off Station
United States Michael S. Hopkins, NASA
Second spaceflight		 Flight Engineer Off Station
United States Victor J. Glover, NASA
First spaceflight		 Flight Engineer Off Station
Japan Soichi Noguchi, JAXA
Third spaceflight		 Flight Engineer Off Station
SpaceX Crew-2 Japan Akihiko Hoshide, JAXA
Third spaceflight		 Off Station Flight Engineer Commander Flight Engineer
France Thomas Pesquet, ESA
Second spaceflight		 Off Station Flight Engineer Commander
United States Shane Kimbrough, NASA
Third and last spaceflight		 Off Station Flight Engineer
United States Megan McArthur, NASA
Second spaceflight		 Off Station Flight Engineer
Soyuz MS-18 Russia Oleg Novitsky, Roscosmos
Third spaceflight		 Flight Engineer
Russia Pyotr Dubrov, Roscosmos
First spaceflight		 Flight Engineer
United States Mark T. Vande Hei, NASA
Second spaceflight		 Flight Engineer
Soyuz MS-19 Russia Anton Shkaplerov, Roscosmos
Fourth and last spaceflight		 Off Station Flight Engineer

Notes

  1. ↑ The European portion of SpaceX Crew-2 is called Alpha, and is headed by Thomas Pesquet.
  2. ↑ Alongside the 3 other crew members, Megan McArthur is using the same seat of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour in this mission which her husband, Bob Behnken, used in SpaceX Demo-2 mission, the first mission of the Endeavour capsule.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "ISS Expedition 65". spacefacts.de. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. 20 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Russia's 2021 expedition crew to practice spacewalk in lab conditions". tass.com. TASS. 19 June 2020.
  4. 1 2 "New solar arrays ready to upgrade International Space Station's power grid". Spaceflight Now. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Expedition 64 Trio Undocks, Ends Station Mission". NASA. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Smith, Yvette (16 October 2017). "NASA Television Upcoming Events". NASA. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ "NASA Assigns Astronaut Mark Vande Hei to International Space Station Crew". 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ↑ York, Joanna (19 March 2021). "French astronaut next International Space Station commander". www.connexionfrance.com. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 "Upcoming NASA Live Events". NASA. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Current and Future Operations and Challenges with International Space Station" (PDF). ISS Program Office. NASA. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Clark, Stephen (3 June 2021). "SpaceX cargo ship launches on mission to upgrade space station electrical grid". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  12. ↑ Garcia, Mark (16 June 2021). "Spacewalk to Install First New Solar Array Concluded". NASA. Retrieved 17 June 2021.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ↑ "Hardware, Spacesuit Difficulties Stall Ambitious ISS Spacewalk". Aviation Week. Informa Markets. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Guardian, AP and AFP staff (20 June 2021). "ISS astronauts complete six-hour spacewalk to install solar panels". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  15. ↑ Pearlman, Robert Z. (20 June 2021). "Astronauts on spacewalk deploy first roll-out solar array to boost power for station". Space.com. Future US Inc. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  16. ↑ Pearlman, Robert Z. (25 June 2021). "Spacewalking astronauts deploy second new solar array for space station". Space.com. Future US Inc. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  17. ↑ staff, Associated Press of New York (24 August 2021). "NASA delays ISS spacewalk due to astronaut's medical issue". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  18. ↑ Harwood, William (12 September 2021). "Spacewalkers carry out space station power upgrades". CBS News. ViacomCBS. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  19. 1 2 Strickland, Ashley (9 September 2021). "Russian cosmonauts conduct spacewalk despite smoke, alarm on space station". CNN. WarnerMedia. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Новости. Экипажи корабля "Союз МС-18" ответили на вопросы".
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