NASA's SpaceX Crew-4: Final Departure Photos | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4: Final Departure Photos | International Space Station

SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts pose for a portrait in their pressure suits before boarding the Dragon Freedom crew ship, undocking from the International Space Station, and returning to Earth completing a 170-day space research mission. From left are Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, Pilot Bob Hines, Commander Kjell Lindgren (all three NASA astronauts), and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristoforetti from the European Space Agency (ESA)

The eleven Expedition 68 crew members aboard the International Space Station pose for a portrait. In the front row from left, are Russian cosmonauts Anna Kikina, Sergey Prokopyev, and Dmitri Petelin. In the next row, are astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In the back, are NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Frank Rubio, Josh Cassada, and Nicole Mann. A symbolic key, representing the traditional change of command ceremony, that Cristoforetti earlier handed over to Prokopyev, floats in the center of the frame, as he begins his spaceflight as Expedition 68 Commander.

The SpaceX Crew-4 mission insignia, affixed to the vestibule between the Harmony module's space-facing port and the Dragon Freedom crew ship, is surrounded by the signatures of Crew-4 members Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Samantha Cristoforetti. Credit: NASA/Kjell Lindgren

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins, also a SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Specialist, signs her name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Bob Hines, also the SpaceX Crew-4 Pilot, signs his name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren, also the SpaceX Crew-4 Commander, signs his name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

NASA astronaut and Expedition 68 Commander Samantha Cristoforetti, also a SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Specialist, signs her name around the Crew-4 mission insignia

SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew ship is pictured docked to the forward port of the International Space Station's Harmony module

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft with NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, as well as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti inside undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module on October 14, 2022, to complete a nearly six-month science mission. These are final crew photos on the International Space Station ahead of their successful landing that same day. 

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Kjell Lindgren

Image Dates: October 12-14, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #SpaceX #CrewDragon #CrewDragonFreedom #SpaceXCrew4 #Spacecraft #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #MinervaMission #Italy #Italia #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education