Happy birthday, cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin!

Aleksey Ovchinin, born September 28, 1971 in the former USSR, is a veteran of two space mission and one aborted flight.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-20M as commander to the International Space Station in March 2016.  He participated in Expeditions 47 and 48 before returning to Earth in September 2016.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz MS-10 as commander in October 2018, but the mission was aborted just after launch because the launch vehicle boosters failed.  He and fellow astronaut Nick Hague returned to Earth safely.

His third mission was aboard Soyuz MS-12 to the International Space Station in March 2019.  He participated in Expedition 59 and made commander of Expedition 60.  He returned to Earth in October 2019.

Soyuz MS-15 lands safely today!

Soyuz MS-15 landing crew (L-R): Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir, Andrew Morgan

Soyuz MS-15, with members of Expedition 62, landed safely in Kazakhstan this morning.  Its crew consisted of Commander Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir who launched in September 2019.  They spent about 205 days in space.  Hazz Al Mansouri was aboard for the launch but returned on Soyuz MS-12 October 3.

Andrew Morgan went into space aboard Soyuz MS-13 in July 2019.  He spent about 277 days in space.

Soyuz MS-12 launched 2019

Soyuz MS-12 crew (L-R): Nick Hague, Aleksey Ovchinin, Christina Koch

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-12, launched March 14, 2019, carried the crew of Expedition 59 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Aleksey Ovhinin, Nick Hague and Christina Koch.

Ovchinin and Hague retunred to Earth in October 2019 with space participant Hazza Al Mansouri of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) of the United Arab Emirates.

Christina Koch returned to Earth in February 2020 after a record-breaking stay in space.

Welcome home, Expedition 61!

Expedition 61 crew (L-R): Andrew Morgan, Aleksandr Skvortsov, Luca Parmitano, Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch

Mission patch

The members of Expedition 61 - Commander Luca Parmitano, Christina Koch and Aleksandr Skvortsov - returned to Earth from the International Space Station this morning aboard I.  Koch went into space way back in March 2019 aboard Soyuz MS-12.  She has set the world record for longest stay in space by a woman at 328 days.  She has the second-longest single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut and 7th on the list of cumulative time in space for American astronauts.

Skvortsov and Parmitano arrived at the ISS in July 2019 with Andrew Morgan aboard Soyuz MS-13 and have completed a 201-day stay in space.  With this mission, Parmitano has logged 367 days in space, longer than any other ESA astronaut.

Skvortsov has completed his third mission and has logged 546 days in space, putting him 15th on the list of all-time spaceflight endurance tests.

 Koch performed 6 EVAs during her stay and Parmitano conducted 4.

Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan remain onboard the ISS and have transferred over to Expedition 62.

Happy birthday, astronaut Christina Koch!

Christina Koch, born January 29, 1979 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, recently set the world record on December 28, 2019 for longest continuous time in space by a woman.  And she's still counting.

This is her first time in space.  She launched in Soyuz MS-12 in March 2019 to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 59.  Since then, she has participated in Expedition 60 and is currently part of Expedition 61.  She conducted the first all-female spacewalk with fellow astronaut Jessica Meir in October 2019.

Happy birthday, UAE astronaut Hazza al-Mansouri!

Hazza Al Mansouri, born December 13, 1983 in the United Arab Emirates, is the first astronaut from that country.  He went into space aboard Soyuz MS-15 on September 25, 2019 to the International Space Station.  He returned 8 days later on Soyuz MS-12.

Happy birthday, astronaut Nick Hague!

It isn't usual to wish someone happy birthday while they are in space at the time, but today is Nick Hague's birthday.  He is currently aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 59.  Hague was born September 24, 1975 in Belleville, Kansas.  He graduated from the US Air Force Academy.  After he joined the Air Force, he was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in May 1998 and promoted to Colonel in 2016,

Hague's first trip into space aboard Soyuz MS-10 was aborted shortly after take-off.  He and fellow astronaut Aleksey Ovchinin escaped safely.

Hague's second trip into space was aboard Soyuz MS-12, which was successfully launched March 2019, with Ovchinin and Christina Koch to the ISS.  They are scheduled to return to Earth in October 2019.

Soyuz MS-11/Expedition 58 crew lands safely in Kazakhstan

Soyuz MS-11/Expedition 58 (L-R): Anne McClain, Oleg Kononenko, David Saint-Jacques

Mission patch

The crew of Soyuz MS-11, launched December 2018, returned from the International Space Station yesterday June 24, 2019 in Kazakhstan.  The crew consisted of Commander Oleg Kononenko (Roscosmos), David Saint-Jacques (CSA) and Anne McClain (NASA).

The crew participated in Expedition 58 upon arrival at the ISS with Kononenko as commander.  When Soyuz MS-12 arrived in March 2019, they transferred Expedition 59 to the new crew.

It was the first flight for both McClain and Saint-Jacques, and the fourth for Kononenko.