June 2, 2017
Expedition 51 Crew Departs Space Station
Video above: On June 2, Expedition 51 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) said farewell to the crew remaining onboard the International Space Station. The pair then climbed aboard their Soyuz spacecraft and prepared for their journey back to Earth. The two crew members spent 196 days in space overall and 194 days on the station conducting research and operational work. Video Credit: NASA TV.
After spending 196 days in space, Expedition 51 crew members Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency) landed their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft in Kazakhstan at approximately 10:10 a.m. EDT. Russian recovery teams are helping the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and adjust to gravity after their stay in space.
Expedition 51 Crew Lands Safely in Kazakhstan to Complete More Than Six Months in Space
The duo arrived at the International Space Station on Nov.19, 2016, along with NASA’s Peggy Whitson, who will remain on the space station and return home with NASA’s Jack Fischer and Roscosmos’ Fyodor Yurchikhin. That landing is targeted for September.
The Expedition 51 crew descends to a parachuted landing inside the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft. Image Credit: Roscosmos.
At the time of undocking, Expedition 52 began aboard the station under Yurchikhin’s command. Along with Whitson and Fischer of NASA, the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members. Randy Bresnik of NASA, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli of ESA are scheduled to launch July 28 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
For more information about the International Space Station, visit:
Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.
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