Expedition 68 Officially Begins on Space Station – SpaceX Crew Swap Planned

The Expedition 68 mission is officially underway aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with seven astronauts and cosmonauts living and working together. The crew swaps aren’t finished yet as four SpaceX Crew-5 members count down to their upcoming launch to the orbiting laboratory.

Commander Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) will lead station operations for about the next two weeks, until she and fellow crewmates Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins return to Earth aboard the SpaceXCommonly known as SpaceX, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is a private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company that was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. Headquartered in Hawthorne, California, the company designs, manufactures, and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>SpaceX Dragon Freedom crew ship. The foursome has been aboard the space station since April 27. They spent the day on Friday checking their Dragon pressure suits, packing personal items, and reviewing departure and landing procedures.

Expedition 67 Flight Engineers (from left) Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, and Frank Rubio, all three NASA astronauts, pose for a portrait together inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world.” Credit: NASA

The homebound commercial crew is waiting for their SpaceX Crew-5 replacements. They are currently targeting a launch to the orbiting lab no earlier than noon EDT on Wednesday, October 5. SpaceX Crew-5 Commander Nicole Mann and Pilot Josh Cassada, both from NASAEstablished in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is "To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity." Its core values are "safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion."” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>NASA, with Mission Specialists Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXAFormed in 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was born through the merger of three institutions, namely the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JAXA performs various activities related to aerospace, from basic research in the aerospace field to development and utilization and is responsible for research, technology development, and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon.” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]”>JAXA) and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos, are due to arrive at the station one day after launching aboard the Dragon Endurance. They will spend a few days getting used to life on orbit before Cristoforetti and her three Freedom crewmates end their mission, undock, and parachute to Earth inside the Freedom crew ship.

In the meantime, first-time space-flyer Frank Rubio of NASA is in his second week as a flight engineer onboard the orbiting lab. He arrived at the space station with fellow flight engineers Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitriy Petelin, both cosmonauts from Roscosmos, on September 21 inside the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship.

Rubio spent the end of the week working on the Intelligent Glass Optics study, exploring how to use artificial intelligence to adapt materials manufacturing, such as fiber optics, to the vacuum of space for. He swapped and observed glass fiber samples being pulled inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox. Petelin and Prokopyev and Petelin partnered together for a study exploring how microgravity affects the heart and blood vessels.