Soyuz MS-19 launched 2021

Soyuz MS-19 crew (L-R): Klim Shipenko, Yulia Peresild, Anton Shkaplerov

Soyuz MS-19, launched October 5, 2021, carried the first mission to the International Space Station with an all-Russian crew.  It was also the first time in 21 years a Soyuz mission was launched without an American astronaut on board.  Its crew consisted of Commander Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shipenko (film director), and Yulia Peresild (actress).  The ship had to be upgraded so it could be piloted by a single person.  

Shipenko and Peresild spent about 12 days on the ISS filming the movie The Challenge, and returned to Earth on Soyuz MS-18.  Shkaplerov remained in space for over 176 days and returned with cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and astronaut Mark Vande Hei in March 2022.

Soyuz TMA 15M launched 2014

Soyuz TMA-15M crew (L-R): Anton Shkaplerov, Samantha Cristoforetti, Terry Virts

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-15M, launched November 23, 2014, carried the crew of Expedition 42 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Samantha Cristoforetti (ESA) and Terry Virts (NASA).

They returned to Earth in June 2015 after almost 200 days in space.

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.

Soyuz MS-08 launched yesterday!

Soyuz MS-08 crew (L-R): Ricky Arnold, Oleg Artemyev, Andrew Feustel 

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-08, launched yesterday, March 21, 2018, is on its way to the International Space Station, carrying members of Expedition 55 and 56. Its crew consists of Commander Oleg Artemyev (Roscosmos), Andrew Feustel and Richard "Ricky" Arnold, both of NASA.  They will dock with the station tomorrow, March 23.

They will join the current crew, Anton Shkaplerov, Scott Tingle and Norishige Kanai, already on board.

Soyuz MS-07 launched today!

Crew of Soyuz MS-07

Mission Patch

Soyuz MS-07 launched today is taking three astronauts to the International Space Station.  The crew consists of Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos), Scott Tingle (NASA) and Norishige Kanai (JAXA).  The will dock with the ISS in about two days.

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 TMA-22 launched 2011

Angry Birds in space! 

L-R: Daniel C. Burbank, Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoli Ivanishin

Mission patch

In the midst of a snow storm, Soyuz TMA-22 blasted off November 14, 2011 with two Russians and one American on their way to the International Space Station.  It was the first manned mission to the ISS since NASA had ended the space shuttle program in July with STS-135.

Soyuz TMA-22's crew consisted of Commander Anton Shkaplerov, Flight Engineer Anatoli Ivanishin and Flight Engineer Daniel Burbank (from Connecticut).

It is the first known flight in which an Angry Bird was a passenger.