Expedition 69: Awaiting New Crew Arrival | International Space Station

Expedition 69: Awaiting New Crew Arrival | International Space Station 

In this image, Expedition 69 crew members await the arrival of three new crew members on a Russian Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on Sept. 15, 2023: NASA Astronaut Loral O'Hara, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia. In order from the closest to farthest: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa, NASA Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli, Roscomos Flight Engineer Konstantin Borisov (Russia), NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio, Roscomos Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin, and Station Commander Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia) in the far background.

NASA Astronaut Loral O'Hara is greeted by Expedition 69 crew members after the hatch of her Russian Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft was opened to allow boarding of the International Space Station. NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio can be seen hugging Loral here.

Russian Soyuz MS-23 (left) and the newly-arrived Soyuz MS-24 (right) spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on Sept. 15, 2023.

The hatches between the International Space Station and the newly arrived Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft officially opened at 5:16 p.m. EDT on Sept. 15, 2023. The arrival of three new crew members to the existing seven people already aboard for Expedition 69 temporarily increases the station’s population to ten.

NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia joined the space station’s Expedition 69 crew of NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Konstantin Borisov, and Sergey Prokopyev, as well European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (Denmark) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. O’Hara will spend six months aboard the orbital laboratory, while Kononenko and Chub will both spend one year on the orbital outpost.

On Sept. 27, 2023, Rubio, Petelin, and Prokopyev will return to Earth on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft. The trio have been aboard the orbital laboratory since arriving Sept. 21, 2022.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (September 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin, Konstantin Borisov

European Space Agency: Flight Engineer Andreas Mogensen (Denmark)

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

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.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC/ESA Astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark

Image Date: Sept. 15, 2023

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