Expedition 70

Expedition 70 was the 70th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023[2][3][4] with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen taking over the ISS command from Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev in Expedition 69. It ended with the departure of NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara on Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024.[5]

Expedition 70
Oleg Kononenko (orange t-shirt) along with his other Expedition 70 crew members (red t-shirts) and Axiom Mission 3 crew (black jumpsuits)
Mission typeLong-duration mission to ISS
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration191 days, 20 hours and 39 minutes
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began27 September 2023[1]
Ended6 April 2024
Arrived aboardSoyuz MS-24
SpaceX Crew-7
Soyuz MS-25
SpaceX Crew-8
Departed aboardSoyuz MS-24
SpaceX Crew-7
Crew
Crew size7–11
Members
EVAs2
EVA duration14 hours 23 minutes

Expedition 70 mission patch

Expedition 70 crew portrait 

Background, Crew and Events

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Initially, the expedition consisted of Andreas and his three SpaceX Crew-7 crewmates, Jasmin Moghbeli, Satoshi Furukawa, and Konstantin Borisov from America, Japan, and Russia respectively, as well as Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (who later assumed the ISS command) and Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission), and another American astronaut Loral O'Hara, who launched aboard Soyuz MS-24 on September 15, 2023 and were transferred from Expedition 69 alongside the SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts.[6]

However, even after several months of outfitting EVAs and RTOd heat radiator installation, six months later on 9 October 2023, the Nauka RTOd radiator malfunctioned before active use of Nauka (the purpose of RTOd installation is to radiate heat from Nauka experiments). The malfunction, a leak, rendered the RTOd radiator unusable for Nauka. This is the third ISS radiator leak after Soyuz MS-22 and Progress MS-21 radiator leaks. If a spare RTOd is not available, Nauka experiments will have to rely on Nauka's main launch radiator and the module could never be utilized to its full capacity.[7][8]

The crew was later replenished by subsequent crew rotation missions in the expedition, SpaceX Crew-8, consisting of American astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, and Soyuz MS-25, consisting of Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian space tourist Marina Vasilevskaya, and American astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson.[5] Originally, the Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test was supposed to dock during the expedition. Instead, it was again moved farther down the vehicle schedule to May during Expedition 71.[9] The space station was also visited by a non-expedition crew, Axiom Mission 3, consisting of former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría (who previously commanded the station during Expedition 14), Italian astronaut Walter Villadei, ESA Swedish Project astronaut Marcus Wandt, and Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravcı.

Events manifest

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Previous mission: Expedition 69

27 September 2023 – Soyuz MS-23 Undocking, official switch from Expedition 69

9 October 2023 - Nauka outfitting RtoD Add-on Heat Radiator Leak Event

25/26 October 2023 – EVA 1 (VKD-61) Kononenko/Chub: 7 hrs, 41 min[10]

1 November 2023– EVA 2 (US-89) Moghbeli/O'Hara: 6 hrs, 42 mins[11]

11 November 2023– CRS SpX-29 Docking

29 November 2023 – Progress MS-23/84P Undocking

3 December 2023 – Progress MS-25/86P Docking

21 December 2023 – CRS SpX-29 Undocking

22 December 2023 – CRS Cygnus NG-19 Unberthing & Release

20 January 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Docking (Non-Expedition crew)

1 February 2024 – CRS Cygnus NG-20 Capture & Berthing

7 February 2024 – Axiom Mission 3 Undocking (Non-Expedition crew)

13 February 2024 – Progress MS-24/85P Undocking

17 February 2024 – Progress MS-26/87P Docking[12]

5 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-8 Docking[13]

10 March 2024 - ISS Expedition 70 Change of Command Ceremony from Andreas Mogensen to Oleg Kononenko

11 March 2024 – SpaceX Crew-7 Undocking

23 March 2024– CRS SpX-30 Docking

25 March 2024 – Soyuz MS-25 Docking (Expedition 70/71 & ISS EP-21)

29 March 2024 - Kononenko and Chub's seat liner moved from Soyuz MS-24 swapped with Novitsky and Vasilevskaya's seat liner moved from Soyuz MS-25 for MS-24 landing[14]

6 April 2024 – Soyuz MS-24 Undocking, official switch to Expedition 71

Next: Expedition 71

Sources:[12][5][15]

Crew

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Flight[5]AstronautIncrement 70aIncrement 70bIncrement 70cIncrement 70d
27 Sep 2023 - 5 Mar 20245 - 11 Mar 202411 - 25 Mar 202425 Mar - 6 Apr 2024
Soyuz MS-24 Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight
Flight EngineerCommander[16]
Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer
Loral O'Hara, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer
SpaceX Crew-7 Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight EngineerOff Station
Andreas Mogensen, ESA
Second spaceflight
CommanderOff Station
Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Second spaceflight
Flight EngineerOff Station
Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight EngineerOff Station
SpaceX Crew-8 Matthew Dominick, NASA
First spaceflight
Off StationFlight Engineer
Michael Barratt, NASA
Third spaceflight
Off StationFlight Engineer
Jeanette Epps, NASA
First spaceflight
Off StationFlight Engineer
Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Off StationFlight Engineer
Soyuz MS-25 Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, NASA
Third spaceflight
Off StationFlight Engineer

Besides the expedition crew, Crew Dragon visited the station, carrying Axiom Mission 3, consisting of Michael López-Alegría of Axiom Space (formerly NASA), Walter Villadei of the Italian Ministry of Defence, Alper Gezeravcı of the Turkish Space Agency, and Marcus Wandt of the Swedish National Space Agency.[17]

The Soyuz MS-25 vehicle carried expedition member Tracy Caldwell-Dyson and visitors Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya, a flight attendant trained by the Belarus Space Agency for ISS EP-21. One week after docking, Novitsky and Vasilevskaya returned with expedition member Loral O'Hara on the Soyuz MS-24 vehicle. Meanwhile, Kononenko and Chub, who launched on MS-24, will return on the MS-25 vehicle.[5]

Vehicle manifest

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For the first time during 25 March-6 April 2024, all currently active ports of ISS were occupied, that too seven in number.[18]

Vehicle[5]PurposePortDocking/Capture DateUndocking Date
(if during Expedition 70)
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 69
Progress MS-23/84PRussian CargoPoisk Zenith24 May 202329 Nov 2023
CRS Cygnus NG-19 "Laurel Clark"US CargoUnity Nadir4 Aug 202322 Dec 2023
Progress MS-24/85PRussian CargoZvezda Aft25 Aug 202313 Feb 2024
SpaceX Crew-7 "Endurance"Exp. 69/70 USOS CrewHarmony Zenith27 Aug 202311 Mar 2024
Soyuz MS-24/70S "Antares"Exp. 69/70 Russian CrewRassvet Nadir15 Sep 20236 Apr 2024
Vehicles docked during Expedition 70
CRS Dragon SpX-29US CargoHarmony Forward11 Nov 202321 Dec 2023
Progress MS-25/86PRussian CargoPoisk Zenith3 Dec 20232024 (Exp. 71)
Axiom Mission 3 "Freedom"Non-Expedition US Commercial MissionHarmony Forward20 Jan 20247 Feb 2024
CRS Cygnus NG-20 "Patricia "Patty" Hilliard Robertson"US CargoUnity Nadir1 Feb 2024Jul 2024 (Exp. 71)
Progress MS-26/87PRussian CargoZvezda aft17 Feb 20242024 (Exp. 71)
SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour"Exp. 70/71 USOS CrewHarmony Forward5 Mar 2024Aug 2024 (Exp. 71)
CRS Dragon SpX-30US CargoHarmony Zenith23 Mar 202428 Apr 2024 (Exp. 71)
Soyuz MS-25/71S "Kazbek"Exp. 70/71 Crew, Visiting Expedition 21Prichal nadir25 Mar 202424 Sep 2024 (Exp. 71)
Segment US Orbital Segment Russian Segment
PeriodHarmony ForwardHarmony ZenithHarmony NadirUnity NadirRassvet NadirPrichal NadirPoisk ZenithZvezda Aft
27 Sept 2023-11 Nov 2023VacantSpaceX Crew-7VacantCygnus NG-19Soyuz MS-24/70SVacantProgress MS-23/84PProgress MS-24/85P
11-29 Nov 2023CRS SpX-29
29 Nov 2023-3 Dec 2023Vacant
3-21 Dec 2023Progress MS-25/86P
21-22 Dec 2023Vacant
22 Dec 2023-20 Jan 2024Vacant
20 Jan-1 Feb 2024Axiom Mission 3
1-7 Feb 2024Cygnus NG-20
7-13 Feb 2024Vacant
13-17 Feb 2024Vacant
17 Feb-5 Mar 2024Progress MS-26/87P
5-11 Mar 2024SpaceX Crew-8
11-23 Mar 2024Vacant
23 Mar-25 Mar 2024CRS SpX-30
25 Mar-6 Apr 2024Soyuz MS-25/71S

The Prichal aft, forward, starboard, and aft ports all have yet to be used since the module originally docked to the station, and are not included in the table.

References

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  1. ^ Graf, Abby (27 September 2023). "Crewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocking Live on NASA TV". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  2. ^ Dinner, Josh (23 August 2023). "SpaceX Crew-7 astronauts will handle over 200 science experiments on ISS". Space.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ Evans, Ben (10 September 2023). "Better Late Than Never: New ISS Crew Prepares to Fly, All-Female EVAs Possible in October". AmericaSpace.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ^ Graf, Abby (27 September 2023). "Crewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocking Live on NASA TV". blogs.nasa.gov. NASA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  6. ^ Shipkenov, Maxim. "Soyuz MS-24 preps continue days before launch". ABS-CBN. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023.
  7. ^ Robinson-Smith, Will. "Russian space station laboratory module appears to spring coolant leak – Spaceflight Now". Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Госкорпорация «Роскосмос»". Telegram. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
  9. ^ Sturm, Karin (20 November 2023). "Stars aligning for Boeing crew launch in April". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  10. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (26 October 2023). "Cosmonauts on ISS spacewalk encounter coolant 'blob' while inspecting leaky radiator". Space.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  11. ^ Pearlman, Robert Z. (1 November 2023). "NASA astronauts complete 4th-ever all-female spacewalk outside International Space Station". Space.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  13. ^ Finch, Joshua; Cheshier, Leah, eds. (17 January 2024). "NASA Sets Briefings for Crew-8, International Space Station Missions" (Press release). NASA. M24-006. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Preparations for landing Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft underway". eng.belta.by. 2024-03-29. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  15. ^ "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center. NASA. 10 November 2020. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  16. ^ Harwood, William (2024-03-11). "4 International Space Station crew members undock, head for Tuesday splashdown in Gulf of Mexico - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  17. ^ Howell, Elizabeth (13 December 2023). "SpaceX to launch 3rd private astronaut mission to the ISS for Axiom Space on Jan. 9". Space.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Soyuz MS-25 Crew Hatch Opening and Welcome Remarks | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.