Soyuz MS-18 launched today!

Soyuz MS-18 crew (L-R): Mark Vande Hei, Oleg Novitskiy, Pyotr Dubrov

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-18, launched today, carried members of Expedition 65 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consists of Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Pyotr Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei.  They will also participate in Expeditions 64 and 66.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy!

Oleg Novitskiy, born October 12, 1971 in Belarus, has been in space twice.

 His first trip into space was as commander of Soyuz TMA-06M in October 2012 to the International Space Station.  He remained on board for Expeditions 33 and 34.  He returned to Earth in March 2013.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz MS-03 as commander in November 2016 to the ISS.  He was part of the crews of Expeditions 50 and 51, returning to Earth in June 2017.

He has spent over 340 days in space.

Soyuz MS-03 launched 2016

Soyuz MS-03 crew (L-R): Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-03, launched November 17, 2016, carried three members of Expedition 50 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Oleg Novitskiy (Roscosmos), Thomas Pesquet (ESA) and Peggy Whitson (NASA).

At age 56, Peggy Whitson became the oldest woman to go into space.  Novitskiy and Pesquet returned to Earth in June 2017 after 196 days.  Whitson returned in September aboard Soyuz MS-04.

Soyuz TMA-06M (Expedition 33) launched 2012

Soyuz TMA-06M crew (L-R): Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-06M, launched October 23, 2012, carried members of Expedition 33 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin and Kevin Ford (NASA).

They greeted the residents of the ISS Sunita Williams, Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide.  They remained on board until March 2013 when they returned to Earth.

Soyuz MS-03 launched 2016

L-R: Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy

 Mission patch

Soyuz MS-03 took off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, November 17, 2016.  On board were Oleg Novitskiy (Russia), Thomas Pesquet (France) and Peggy Whitson (Iowa).  Peggy was the oldest woman to go into space, but I don't know of anyone who will actually say that to her.  ;)

Soyuz MS-03 traveled to the International Space Station, docking on November 19.  It undocked June 2, 2017 bringing Pesquet and Novitskiy back to Earth.  Whitson stayed on the ISS until September 3.