ISS Expedition 56/57

Mission Profile

Overview

Returning for his second flight, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst rose to command the ISS during Expedition 57 — becoming only the second European to lead the orbiting laboratory. He launched on Soyuz MS-09 on 6 June 2018 with Soyuz commander Sergey Prokopyev and NASA's Serena Auñón-Chancellor for his Horizons mission. The flight became dramatic when, in late August, a small pressure leak was traced to a tiny hole in the Soyuz MS-09 orbital module, later sealed by the crew. The Soyuz MS-10 abort that October further complicated crew rotations, leaving Gerst to steward a reduced station through the autumn. He handed command to Oleg Kononenko before returning to Earth with Prokopyev and Auñón-Chancellor on 20 December 2018 after roughly 197 days in orbit.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 2018-06-06

   Soyuz MS-09 launches Prokopyev, Auñón-Chancellor and Gerst on the Horizons mission

2. 2018-08-30

   A pressure leak is traced to a small hole in the Soyuz MS-09 orbital module and sealed

3. 2018-10-03

   Expedition 57 begins with Alexander Gerst taking command of the ISS

4. 2018-12-20

   Gerst, Prokopyev and Auñón-Chancellor land aboard Soyuz MS-09 in Kazakhstan

Key Achievements

• Alexander Gerst became the second European to command the International Space Station

• Crew sealed a small hole that caused a pressure leak in the Soyuz MS-09 orbital module

• Maintained station operations through the Soyuz MS-10 abort crew-rotation disruption

• Gerst's second long-duration flight (Horizons mission), ~197 days

Related Missions

Sources

1. Wikipedia — Expedition 56
2. Wikipedia — Expedition 57
3. ESA — Alexander Gerst / Exp 57 landing