Expedition 69 was the 69th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the uncrewed departure of Soyuz MS-22 in March 2023 with Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev continuing his ISS command from Expedition 68.[1] It ended with his departure with his crewmates onboard Soyuz MS-23 on 27 September 2023.[2]

Expedition 69
Promotional poster
Mission typeLong-duration expedition
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Mission duration182 days, 21 hours and 57 minutes
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began28 March 2023
Ended27 September 2023
Arrived aboardSoyuz MS-22
SpaceX Crew-6
Soyuz MS-24
SpaceX Crew-7
Departed aboardSoyuz MS-23
SpaceX Crew-6
Crew
Crew size7–11
Members
EVAs8
EVA duration51 hours and 58 minutes

Expedition 69 mission patch

Expedition 69 crew portrait
Expedition 69 crew during dinner with Axiom Mission 2[a] members while celebrating Sultan Al Neyadi's birthday inside the Unity module[3] (not pictured is NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio)

Background, Crew and Events

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Initially, the expedition consisted of Prokopyev and his two Soyuz MS-22/23 crewmates, Dmitry Petelin from Russia and American astronaut Francisco Rubio, as well as American astronauts Stephen G. Bowen and Warren Hoburg, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, and another Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who launched aboard SpaceX Crew-6 on March 2, 2023 and were transferred from Expedition 68 alongside the Soyuz MS-22/23 crew.[4] The departure of the MS-22 spacecraft with its crew was ultimately canceled because of a coolant leak[5] in December 2022. The decision was made to return Soyuz MS-22 uncrewed and launch Soyuz MS-23 uncrewed[5] as its replacement. By the time the MS-22/23 crew returned to Earth on 27 September 2023, which was the end of Expedition 69, they had spent more than a year in space due to their mission extension.[6][7][8]

The manifest changes do not affect US crew rotation plans, where SpaceX Crew-5 was replaced by Crew-6 in February during Expedition 68.[9]

Previously, US crew handovers since flights returned in 2020 took place during a new expedition, about 2–3 weeks after the Soyuz handover occurs (which officially changes the expeditions). However, in this handover, the swap occurred before the Soyuz MS-22 departure date of March 28. The early US handover was a part of the manifest prior to the Soyuz MS-22 coolant leak in December 2022.[10]

The crew was later replenished by subsequent crew rotation missions in the expedition, SpaceX Crew-7, consisting of NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa from Japan, and Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov, and Soyuz MS-24, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission) and another American astronaut Loral O'Hara. The space station was also visited by a non-expedition crew, Axiom Mission 2, consisting of former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (who had previously commanded the station twice during Expedition 16 and Expedition 51), John Shoffner, Ali AlQarni, and Rayyanah Barnawi.[2]

Events manifest

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Events involving crewed spacecraft are listed in bold.

Previous mission: Expedition 68

28 March 2023 – Soyuz MS-22 Uncrewed undocking, official switch from Expedition 68

6 April 2023 – Soyuz MS-23 Redocking

15 April 2023 – CRS SpX-27 Undocking

16 April 2023 – EVA 1 (VKD-56): 7 hrs, 55 mins

16 April 2023 – Relocation of Nauka outfitting: Moving "RtoD" add-on heat radiator from Rassvet module to Nauka module

21 April 2023 – CRS NG-18 Unberthing & Release

28 April 2023 – EVA 2 (US-86): 7 hrs, 1 min

3–4 May 2023 – EVA 3 (VKD-57): 7 hrs, 11 mins

4 May 2023 – Relocation of Nauka outfitting: Moving experiments airlock "ShK" from Rassvet module to Nauka module forward port

6 May 2023 – SpaceX Crew-6 Redocking

12 May 2023 – EVA 4 (VKD-58): 5 hrs, 14 mins

22 May 2023 – Axiom Mission 2 Docking (Non-Expedition crew)

24 May 2023 – Progress MS-23/84P Docking[11]

30 May 2023 – Axiom Mission 2 Undocking (Non-Expedition crew)

1 June 2023 – CRS SpX-28 Docking[11]

9 June 2023 – EVA 5 (US EVA-87): 6 hrs, 3 mins, installed the fifth iROSA at Array 1A

15 June 2023 – EVA 6 (US EVA-88): 5 hrs, 35 mins, installed the sixth and last iROSA at Array 1B

22 June 2023 – EVA 7 (VKD-59): 6 hrs, 24 mins

29 June 2023 – CRS SpX-28 Undocking

4 August 2023 – CRS NG-19 Capture & Berthing

9 August 2023 – EVA 8 (VKD-60): 6 hrs, 35 mins

9 August 2023 – Relocation of Nauka outfitting: Moving European Robotic Arm's Portable Workpost from Rassvet module to Nauka module

20 August 2023 – Progress MS-22/83P Undocking

25 August 2023 – Progress MS-24/85P Docking[11]

27 August 2023 – SpaceX Crew-7 Docking[11]

3 September 2023 – SpaceX Crew-6 Undocking

15 September 2023 – Soyuz MS-24 Docking

26 September 2023 – ISS Expedition 69/70 Change of Command Ceremony from Sergey Prokopyev to Andreas Mogensen

27 September 2023 – Soyuz MS-23 Undocking, official switch to Expedition 70

Next: Expedition 70

Sources:[2][12]

Crew

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Flight Crewmember Increment 69a Increment 69b Increment 69c Increment 69d
28 Mar–27 Aug 2023 27 Aug–3 Sep 2023 3–15 Sep 2023 15–27 Sep 2023
Soyuz MS-23   Sergey Prokopyev, Roscosmos
Second spaceflight
Commander
  Dmitry Petelin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer
  Francisco Rubio, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer
SpaceX Crew-6   Stephen Bowen, NASA
Fourth spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Warren Hoburg, NASA
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Sultan Al Neyadi, MBRSC
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
  Andrey Fedyaev, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer Off Station
SpaceX Crew-7   Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Andreas Mogensen, ESA
Second spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
 Satoshi Furukawa, JAXA
Second spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
Soyuz MS-24   Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
  Loral O'Hara, NASA
First spaceflight
Off Station Flight Engineer
Sources:[13]

Vehicle manifest

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Vehicle Purpose Port Docking/Capture Date Undocking Date
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 67 or Expedition 68
  CRS NG-18 Cargo Unity nadir 9 Nov 2022 (Exp. 68)[14] 21 Apr 2023
  Progress MS-22/83P Cargo Zvezda aft 11 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68) 20 Aug 2023
  Soyuz MS-23/69S Exp. 67/68/69 crew Poisk zenith 24 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68)[15] 6 Apr 2023 (redock)
  SpaceX Crew-6 "Endeavour" Exp. 68/69 crew Harmony zenith 28 Feb 2023 (Exp. 68)[16] 6 May 2023 (redock)
  CRS SpX-27 Cargo Harmony forward 16 Mar 2023 (Exp. 68)[17] 16 Apr 2023
Vehicles docked during Expedition 69
  Soyuz MS-23/69S Exp. 67/68/69 crew Prichal nadir 6 Apr 2023 (redock)[18] 27 Sep 2023
  SpaceX Crew-6 "Endeavour" Exp. 68/69 crew Harmony forward 6 May 2023 (redock)[19] 3 Sep 2023
  Ax-2 Visiting commercial mission Harmony zenith 22 May 2023 30 May 2023
  Progress MS-23/84P Cargo Poisk zenith 24 May 2023 29 Nov 2023 (Exp. 70)
  CRS SpX-28 Cargo Harmony forward 6 Jun 2023 29 Jun 2023
  CRS NG-19 Cargo Unity nadir 4 Aug 2023 22 Dec 2023 (Exp. 70)
  Progress MS-24/85P Cargo Zvezda aft 25 Aug 2023 13 Feb 2024 (Exp. 70)
  SpaceX Crew-7 "Endurance" Exp. 69/70 crew Harmony zenith 27 Aug 2023 11 Mar 2024 (Exp. 70)
  Soyuz MS-24/70S "Antares" Exp. 69/70 crew Rasssvet nadir 15 Sep 2023 6 Apr 2024 (Exp. 70)

Notes

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  1. ^ First row except Sultan Al Neyadi in center.

References

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  1. ^ Garcia, Mark. "Uncrewed Soyuz Spacecraft Undocks from Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  2. ^ a b c "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ^ @Astro_Alneyadi (May 25, 2023). "Celebrated my 1st birthday 🎂 in space with colleagues who have become family! Highlight of the day? A Maple Muffin top cake from the USA crew, a Cinnamon Bun with yoghurt and dry fruits from Russian crew, topped off with wishes in Arabic. Truly a gravity-defying celebration! 😃" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-05-26 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Garcia, Mark. "Uncrewed Soyuz Spaceship Lands in Kazakhstan". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  5. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (2023-01-11). "Roscosmos to launch uncrewed Soyuz to replace damaged spacecraft at ISS". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  6. ^ "International Space Station Operations, Soyuz Status Update – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  7. ^ "Roscosmos and NASA Have a Plan to Replace Damaged Soyuz Spacecraft at ISS". Gizmodo. 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  8. ^ Wattles, Ashley Strickland,Jackie (2023-01-11). "Roscosmos will send replacement spacecraft to return crew to Earth after Soyuz leak". CNN. Retrieved 2023-01-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Josh Dinner (2023-01-10). "SpaceX and NASA target Crew-6 astronaut launch in mid-February". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  10. ^ "SpaceX launches first NASA astronauts to fly from US since shuttle | collectSPACE". collectSPACE.com. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  11. ^ a b c d "Launch Schedule – Spaceflight Now". Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  12. ^ "Microgravity Research Flights". Glenn Research Center. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ^ "ISS Expedition Reports". spacefacts.de. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  14. ^ Navin, Joseph (2022-11-07). "SS Sally Ride Cygnus arrives at ISS on NG-18 mission". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  15. ^ updated, Elizabeth Howell last (2023-02-22). "Watch Russia launch replacement Soyuz to International Space Station tonight (Feb. 23)". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  16. ^ Heidler, Scott (2023-02-22). "Launch date postponed for SpaceX Crew-6". WESH. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  17. ^ https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/03/spacex-crs-27/
  18. ^ https://scitechdaily.com/astronaut-and-cosmonauts-fly-soyuz-crew-ship-to-new-docking-port-on-space-station/
  19. ^ Heidler, Scott (2023-02-22). "Launch date postponed for SpaceX Crew-6". WESH. Retrieved 2023-02-23.