Expedition 69

Summary

Expedition 69 is the 69th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-22 in March 2023 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev continuing his ISS command from Expedition 68.[2] It will end on his departure with his crewmates onboard Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023.[3]

Expedition 69
Iss069e014094.jpg
Expedition 69 Crew during dinner at ISS Axiom Mission 2[a] members while celebrating Sultan Al Neyadi's birthday[1] (Not pictured is NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio)
Mission typeLong-duration mission to ISS
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration60 days, 2 hours and 13 minutes
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began28 March 2023
Arrived aboardSoyuz MS-23
(uncrewed launch)
SpaceX Crew-6
Crew
Crew size7-11
Members
ISS Expedition 69 Patch.png
Expedition 69 mission patch
Expedition 69 Crew Portrait.jpg
Expedition 69 crew portrait 

Background, Crew and EventsEdit

Initially, the expedition consisted of Prokopyev and his two Soyuz MS-22 crewmates Dmitry Petelin from Russia and American astronaut, Francisco Rubio as well as American astronauts Stephen G. Bowen, Warren Hoburg, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and another Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who launched aboard SpaceX Crew-6 on March 2, 2023, and were transferred from Expedition 68 alongside the Soyuz MS-22 astronauts.[4] The departure of the craft with its crew was ultimately canceled because of a coolant leak[5] in December 2022. The decision was made to return Soyuz MS-22 uncrewed, and to launch Soyuz MS-23 (also unmanned)[5] that replaced it. By the time the MS-22 crew returns to Earth on 27 September 2023, which will be the end Expedition 69, they would have spent more than a full year in space due to their mission extension.[6][7][8]

The manifest changes do not affect US crew rotation plans, where SpaceX Crew-5 was replaced by Crew-6 in February during Expedition 68.[9]

Previously, US Crew handovers since flights returned in 2020 took place during a new expedition, about 2–3 weeks after the Soyuz handover occurs (which officially changes the Expeditions). However, in this handover, the swap occurred before the Soyuz MS-22 departure date of March 28. The early US handover was a part of the manifest prior to the Soyuz MS-22 December 2022 leak.[10]

The crew will later be increment or replenished by subsequent missions in the expedition alongside Non-Expedition crews like Axiom Mission 2 consisting of Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.[3]

Events ManifestEdit

Previously: Expedition 68

28 March 2023 - Soyuz MS-22/68S Uncrewed Undocking, Official switch from Expedition 68

6 April 2023 - Soyuz MS-23/69S Redocking

15 April 2023 - CRS SpX-27 Undocking

16 April 2023 - EVA 1 (VKD-56) 7 hr, 55 mins

16 April 2023 - Relocation of MLM outfitting, Rtod Add-on heat radiator from Rassvet module to Nauka MLM-U module

21 April 2023 - CRS Cygnus NG-18 Unberthing

21 April 2023 - CRS Cygnus NG-18 Release

28 April 2023 - EVA 2 (US-86), 7 hr, 1 min

3-4 May 2023 - EVA 3 (VKD-57), 7 hr, 11 mins

4 May 2023 - Relocation and redocking of MLM outfitting, Experimental Airlock, ShK, from Rassvet module to Nauka MLM-U module forward port

6 May 2023 - SpaceX Crew-6 Redocking

12 May 2023 - EVA 4 (VKD-58), 5 hr, 14 mins

22 May 2023 - Axiom Mission 2 Docking (Non-Expedition crew)

24 May 2023 - Progress MS-23/84P Docking[11]

Planned Events:

1 June 2023 - CRS SpX-28 Docking [11]

July TBD - CRS Cygnus NG-19 Capture

July TBD - CRS Cygnus NG-19 Berthing

21 July 2023 - Boeing CFT Docking[12]

July TBD - Boeing CFT Undocking

17 August 2023 - SpaceX Crew-7 Docking[11]

23 August 2023 - Progress MS-24/85P Docking[11]

27 August 2023 - SpaceX Crew-6 Undocking

15 September 2023 - Soyuz MS-24/70S Docking

27 September 2023 - Soyuz MS-23/69S Undocking, Official switch to Expedition 70

Next: Expedition 70

Sources:[3][13]

CrewEdit

Flight Astronaut Increment 69a Increment 69b Increment 69c Increment 69d Transfer to Increment 70a
28 Mar- 17 Aug 2023 (current) 17 Aug-27 Aug 2023 (planned) 27 Aug-15 Sept 2023 (planned) 15 Sept- 27 Sept (planned) 27 Sept 2023 (planned)
Soyuz MS-23/69S

(Arrived on Soyuz MS-22/68S craft)

  Sergey Prokopyev, Roscosmos
Second spaceflight
Commander Off Station
  Dmitry Petelin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Francisco Rubio, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
SpaceX Crew-6   Stephen Bowen, NASA
Fourth spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Warren Hoburg, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Sultan Al Neyadi, MBRSC
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Andrey Fedyaev, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
SpaceX Crew-7   Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Andreas Mogensen, ESA
Second spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
 Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Second spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
Soyuz MS-24/70S   Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer Commander[14]
  Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Loral O'Hara, NASA
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
Sources:[15]

Vehicle manifestEdit

Vehicle Purpose Port Docking/Capture Date Undocking Date

(if during Expedition 69)

Vehicles inherited from Expedition 67 or Expedition 68
  CRS Cygnus NG-18 "Sally Ride" US Cargo Unity Nadir 9 Nov 2022 (Exp. 68)[16] 21 Apr 2023
  Progress MS-22/83P Russian Cargo Zvezda aft 11 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68) Docked
  Soyuz MS-23/69S Exp. 67/68/69 Crew Return Poisk Zenith 24 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68)[17] 6 Apr 2023
  SpaceX Crew-6 Exp. 68/69 USOS Crew Harmony Zenith 28 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68)[18] 6 May 2023
  CRS Dragon SpX-27 US Cargo Harmony Forward 16 Mar 2023 (Exp. 68)[19] 16 Apr 2023
Vehicles docked during Expedition 69
  Soyuz MS-23/69S Exp. 67/68/69 Crew Return Prichal Nadir 6 Apr 2023 (Redock)[20] Docked
  SpaceX Crew-6 Exp. 68/69 USOS Crew Harmony Forward 6 May 2023 (Redock)[21] Docked
  Axiom Mission-2 Visiting Commercial Mission Harmony Zenith 22 May 2023 Docked
  Progress MS-23/84P Russian Cargo Poisk zenith 24 May 2023 Docked

NotesEdit

  1. ^ First row except Sultan Al Neyadi in centre
  2. ^ Current ISS Expedition 69 commander.

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ @Astro_Alneyadi (May 25, 2023). "Celebrated my 1st birthday 🎂 in space with colleagues who have become family! Highlight of the day? A Maple Muffin top cake from the USA crew, a Cinnamon Bun with yoghurt and dry fruits from Russian crew, topped off with wishes in Arabic. Truly a gravity-defying celebration! 😃" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-05-26 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Garcia, Mark. "Uncrewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocks from Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. ^ a b c "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  4. ^ Garcia, Mark. "Uncrewed Soyuz Spaceship Lands in Kazakhstan". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  5. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (2023-01-11). "Roscosmos to launch uncrewed Soyuz to replace damaged spacecraft at ISS". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  6. ^ "International Space Station Operations, Soyuz Status Update – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  7. ^ "Roscosmos and NASA Have a Plan to Replace Damaged Soyuz Spacecraft at ISS". Gizmodo. 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  8. ^ Wattles, Ashley Strickland,Jackie (2023-01-11). "Roscosmos will send replacement spacecraft to return crew to Earth after Soyuz leak". CNN. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  9. ^ Josh Dinner (2023-01-10). "SpaceX and NASA target Crew-6 astronaut launch in mid-February". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  10. ^ "SpaceX launches first NASA astronauts to fly from US since shuttle | collectSPACE". collectSPACE.com. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  11. ^ a b c d "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  12. ^ Foust, Jeff (2023-02-17). "First crewed Starliner mission on track for April". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. ^ "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Rubio Primed for Integrated Crew Ops, Cristoforetti, Prokopyev to Command Expedition 68a/b - AmericaSpace". www.americaspace.com. 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  15. ^ "ISS Expedition Reports". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  16. ^ Navin, Joseph (2022-11-07). "SS Sally Ride Cygnus arrives at ISS on NG-18 mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  17. ^ updated, Elizabeth Howell last (2023-02-22). "Watch Russia launch replacement Soyuz to International Space Station tonight (Feb. 23)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  18. ^ Heidler, Scott (2023-02-22). "Launch date postponed for SpaceX Crew-6". WESH. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  19. ^ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/03/spacex-crs-27/
  20. ^ https://scitechdaily.com/astronaut-and-cosmonauts-fly-soyuz-crew-ship-to-new-docking-port-on-space-station/
  21. ^ Heidler, Scott (2023-02-22). "Launch date postponed for SpaceX Crew-6". WESH. Retrieved 2023-02-23.