Expedition 72 is the 72nd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-25 on 23 September 2024 and is led by Sunita Williams, her second time serving as commander of the ISS.[1]
 Expedition 72 crew | |
| Mission type | Long-duration expedition |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA / Roscosmos |
| Mission duration | 70 days, 23 hours and 32 minutes (in progress) |
| Expedition | |
| Space station | International Space Station |
| Began | 23 September 2024 |
| Ended | March 2025 |
| Arrived aboard | |
| Departed aboard | |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 7–11 |
| Members |
|
 Expedition 72 mission patch  Left to right, top row: Ovchinin, Williams, Wilmore Middle row: Vagner, Pettit Bottom row: Gorbunov, Hague | |
Expedition 72 will continue the extensive scientific research conducted aboard the ISS, focusing on various fields, including biology, human physiology, physics, and materials science. The crew members will also maintain and upgrade the space station systems.
Background, Crew, and Events
editInitially, the expedition consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, and NASA astronauts Barry E. Wilmore, Sunita Williams, Donald Pettit, and Nick Hague.
Wilmore and Williams arrived at the station on 6 June 2024 for what was expected to be a brief visit as part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. However, their spacecraft experienced technical issues and returned to Earth uncrewed, and Wilmore and Williams were added to the Expedition 71/72 crew.[2]
Ovchinin, Vagner, and Pettit arrived at the station on 11 September aboard Soyuz MS-26.[3][4] Hague and Gorbunov arrived to the station on 29 September aboard SpaceX Crew-9.[5] After a handover period, SpaceX Crew-8 departed on 23 October.
In February 2025, SpaceX Crew-10 is expected to arrive, transporting NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.[6]
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, along with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, are expected to arrive at the station aboard Soyuz MS-27 in March 2025.[7]
Expedition 72 will come to a close in March 2025 when Hague, Wilmore, Williams, and Gorbunov depart on Crew-9 and Ovchinin, Vagner, and Pettit depart on Soyuz MS-26.
Crew
edit| Flight | Crew member | Increment 72a | Increment 72b | Increment 72c | Increment 72d | Increment 72e | Increment 72f |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23-29 Sep 2024 | 29 Sep-23 Oct 2024 | 23 Oct 2024-Feb 2025 (in progress) |
Feb-Feb 2025 (planned) |
Feb-Mar 2025 (planned) |
Mar-Mar 2025 (planned) | ||
| Soyuz MS-26 |  Aleksey Ovchinin, RoscosmosThird[a] spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | |||||
| Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos Second spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | ||||||
 Donald Pettit, NASAFourth spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | ||||||
| SpaceX Crew-8 | Matthew Dominick, NASA First spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | Off Station | ||||
| Michael Barratt, NASA Third spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||||
| Jeanette Epps, NASA First spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||||
| Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos First spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||||
| Boeing Crew Flight Test | Barry E. Wilmore, NASA Third spaceflight |
Flight Engineer | Off Station | ||||
| Sunita Williams, NASA Third spaceflight |
Commander | Off Station | |||||
| SpaceX Crew-9 |
Nick Hague, NASA Second[a] spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | Off Station | |||
| Aleksandr Gorbunov, Roscosmos First spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | Off Station | ||||
| SpaceX Crew-10 (planned) |
Anne McClain, NASA Second spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | ||||
| Nichole Ayers, NASA First spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||||
 Takuya Onishi, JAXASecond spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||||
| Kirill Peskov, Roscosmos First spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||||
| Soyuz MS-27 (planned) |
Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos Third spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | ||||
| Alexey Zubritsky, Roscosmos First spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||||
| Jonny Kim, NASA First spaceflight |
Off Station | Flight Engineer | |||||
Notes
edit- ^ a b Not counting the aborted flight of Soyuz MS-10.
References
edit- ^ Foust, Jeff (13 September 2024). "Starliner astronauts adjust to long-term ISS stay". SpaceNews. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
- ^ Taveau, Jessica (24 August 2024). "NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew". NASA. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
- ^ "NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, Crewmates Arrive at Space Station".
- ^ Donaldson, Abbey A. (27 March 2024). "NASA Astronaut Don Pettit to Conduct Science During Fourth Mission - NASA". NASA. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ Donaldson, Abbey A. (30 August 2024). "NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Changes Ahead of September Launch". NASA. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ Taveau, Jessica (1 August 2024). "NASA Shares its SpaceX Crew-10 Assignments for Space Station Mission". NASA. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ Doyle, Tiernan P. (28 August 2024). "NASA Assigns Astronaut Jonny Kim to First Space Station Mission". NASA. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
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