Image: NASA
ISS Expedition 60/61
Mission Profile
| Launch date | 2019-07-20 |
|---|---|
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 1/5 (Gagarin's Start) |
| Launch vehicle | Soyuz-FG |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz MS-13 |
| Target | Low Earth Orbit |
| Type | Crewed |
| End date | 2020-02-06 |
| Duration | 200 days 16 hours |
| Partners | NASA, Roscosmos, ESA |
Overview
On the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, Soyuz MS-13 carried commander Alexander Skvortsov, ESA's Luca Parmitano and NASA's Andrew Morgan to the ISS. The human centrepiece of this expedition is Parmitano: on 2 October 2019 he took command of Expedition 61, becoming the first Italian and only the third European ever to command the International Space Station. During his tenure the crew carried out an extraordinary series of spacewalks to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic-ray detector never designed to be serviced in orbit. Parmitano, an Italian Air Force test pilot, anchored four complex AMS EVAs, splicing cooling lines by hand in vacuum. After 201 days aloft, the trio returned to a snow-dusted Kazakh steppe on 6 February 2020, closing one of the most technically demanding science increments in station history.
Crew
Alexander Skvortsov
Soyuz MS-13 Commander
Third spaceflight
Luca Parmitano
Flight Engineer (ESA); Expedition 61 Commander
Second spaceflight; first Italian to command the ISS
Andrew Morgan
Flight Engineer (NASA)
First spaceflight; stayed aboard via Soyuz MS-15
Key Milestones
2019-07-20
Soyuz MS-13 launches from Baikonur on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing
2019-10-02
Luca Parmitano assumes command of Expedition 61, first Italian to command the ISS
2019-11-15
First of four spacewalks begins to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02)
2020-02-06
Soyuz MS-13 lands safely in Kazakhstan after 201 days in orbit
Key Achievements
Luca Parmitano became the first Italian and third European to command the ISS
Crew completed four unprecedented spacewalks to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
Launched on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing
