ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-16 Mission patch.
October 22, 2020
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos landed on Earth at 10:54 p.m. EDT in Kazakhstan. The trio departed the International Space Station in their Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft at 7:32 p.m.
Image above: The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft is seen as it lands in Kazakhstan with Expedition 63 crew. Image Credit: NASA TV.
Cassidy now has spent a total of 378 days in space, the fifth highest among U.S. astronauts.
After post-landing medical checks, the crew will split up to return home; Cassidy will board a NASA plane back to Houston, and Vagner and Ivanishin will fly home to Star City, Russia.
Soyuz MS-16 landing
Remaining aboard the station is the three-person crew of Expedition 64 with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, and station commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of Roscosmos. Upon the arrival of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission targeted to launch in November, the station’s long-duration crew will expand to seven people for the first time with the addition of NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
New Station Trio Resting Today After Crew Departure
Three Expedition 64 crew members are sleeping in today following the departure of their Expedition 63 crewmates the day before. Back on Earth, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner have begun the flight back to their home space agencies.
Image above: Expedition 64 crew members (from left) NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov pose for a crew portrait. Image Credit: NASA.
The International Space Station is quiet today as Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineers Kate Rubins and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov rest after preparing their crewmates for the short ride to Earth on Wednesday. The trio will resume their normal schedule on Friday and begin revving up advanced space science to improve life for humans on and off the Earth.
The next crew to visit the orbiting lab is targeting early to mid November to launch aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft from Florida. Four Commercial Crew astronauts, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover and Shannon Walker of NASA with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are planned to live and work on the station until Spring.
Related articles:
Soyuz Departs Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/10/soyuz-departs-space-station.html
Hatches Between Soyuz and Station Closed
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/10/hatches-between-soyuz-and-station-closed.html
Related links:
Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html
Expedition 64: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition64/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Norah Moran/Mark Garcia/NASA TV/SciNews.
Best regards, Orbiter.ch
