Soyuz MS-20 launched 2021

Soyuz MS-20 participants (L-R): Yusaka Maezawa, Alexander Misurkin, Yozo Hirano

Soyuz MS-20, launched December 8, 2021 to the International Space Station, carried one cosmonaut and two Japanese space tourists into space.  Its occupants were Commander Alexander Misurkin (Roscosmos), Yusaku Maezawa (art collector), and Yozo Hirano (Maezawa's production assistant). 

It is the first flight of the Soyuz program that did not take any crew members for rotation on the ISS, and was dedicated entirely for a commercial flight.

They returned to Earth December 20, after more than 11 days in space. 

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin!

Alexander Misurkin, born September 23, 1977 in Russia, has been in space three times.  He is a major in the Russian Air Force.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-08M as flight engineer in March 2013, to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 35 and 36, returning to Earth in September, after more than 166 days in space.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz MS-06 as commander in September 2017, to the ISS.  He participated in Expeditions 53 and 54, returning to Earth in February 2018, after over 168 days in space.

His third trip was aboard Soyuz MS-20 as commander in December 2021 to the ISS.  This time he hosted two space tourists from Japan and only stayed in space just under 12 days. 

Misurkin has performed 4 EVAs for a total time of 28 hours and 14 minutes, including setting the record for the longest Russian EVA - 8 hours, 13 minutes.

Soyuz TMA-08M launched 2013

L-R: Chris Cassidy, Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-08M, launched March 28, 2013, carried members of Expedition 35 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos), Alexander Misurkin (Roscosmos) and Christopher Cassidy (NASA).  They docked with the ISS just under six hours after launch, a new record for the fastest docking.

After 166 days in space, they returned to Earth in September 2013.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov!

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, born February 20, 1972 in Sevastopol, Ukraine, is a veteran of three space flights to the International Space Station.  He has served as an instructor and pilot for the Russian Air Force.

His first flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-22, which launched in November 2011 and returned to Earth in April 2012.  He served as flight engineer for Expeditions 29 and 30.  He made on EVA during the mission with fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, which lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes.

His second flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-15M, launched in November 2014 and returned to Earth June 2015 after 199 days in space. Shkaplerov's total time in space was up to 365 days.  He was part of Expeditions 42 and 43.

His third flight was as commander of Soyuz MS-07, launched in December 2017 and returned to Earth in June 2018 after 166 days.  He participated in Expeditions 54 and 55.  He performed another EVA with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 54 commander Alexander Misurkin, which lasted 8 hours, 13 minutes, the longest Russian spacewalk ever.

Expedition 54 astronauts return home today!

Soyuz MS-06/Expedition 45 crew: Joe Acaba, Alexander Misurkin, Mark Vande Hei

Commander Alexander Misurkin, Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei will climb back into Soyuz MS-06, today about 2:15p and depart the International Space Station, landing about 9:30pm (EST) in Kazakhstan.

Soyuz MS-06 launched back on September 12, 2017 where they joined the second part of Expedition 53.  In December, Misurkin became commander of the ISS for Expedition 54, when Soyuz MS-07 brought three more astronauts to ISS. 

Misurkin, Acaba and Vande Hei have spent 168 days in space, orbiting Earth 2,688 times.  They conducted many experiments including maintenance.  During one EVA, they replaced a degraded latching end effector (LEE) on one end of the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which the crews have affectionately named "Mr. Roboto".




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expedition_54
https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2018/02/23/crew-goes-into-weekend-preparing-to-split-up-on-tuesday/

Welcome back to Earth, Expedition 53!

Randy Bresnik, Paolo Nespoli and Sergey Ryazanskiy landed a little after 3:30am EST today (2:30pm in Kazakhstan) completing their mission on the International Space Station.  While on board, they performed many experiments, contributing to studies on microgravity's effect on the antibiotic resistance of E. coli, a baterial pathogen responsible for urinary tract infection, and growing larger versions of an important protein implicated in Parkison's Disease.  This last example was developed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation with two other partners.

They were launched July 28, 2017 aboard Soyuz MS-05. 

Expedition 54 will continue with 3 crew members, Commander Alexander Misurkin, Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba, until this Sunday when the next crew arrives: Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Scott Tingle (NASA) and Norishige Kanai (JAXA).

Soyuz MS-06 crew on board International Space Station

After a short 6-hour flight, Mark Vande Hei, Joe Acaba and Alexander Misurkin, crew of Soyuz MS-06 have arrived safely at and are on board the Internation Space Station!

Soyuz MS-06 fixin' to blast off this afternoon!

Soyuz MS-06 crew: Joe Acaba, Alexander Misurkin, Mark Vande Hei

This afternoon about 5:17pm EDT, the next crew of the International Space Station will blast off aboard Soyuz MS-06 from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and dock with the ISS approximately 6 hours later.  The crew consists of Lt. Col. Mark Vande Hei (Falls Church, VA; first flight), Joseph Acaba (first Puerto Rican astronaut; third flight) and cosmonaut/commander Alexander Misurkin (Yershichi, Smolensk Oblast, Russia; second flight)

They will join Randy Bresnik, Paolo Nespoli and Sergey Ryanzanski already on the ISS since July 28.  The new crew will continue experiments in biology, physical science and Earth science.

What?  No chemistry?

Just 10 days ago, Peggy Whitson, Jack Fisher and Fyodor Yurchikhin returned to Earth from the ISS, splatting down near Dzhezkagan in Kazakhstan.