Expedition 71
OperatorNASA / Roscosmos
Space stationInternational Space Station
Start date6 April 2024
End date23 September 2024
Arrival craft
Departure craftSoyuz MS-25
Crew members
Crew evas2
Crew eva duration5 hours and 7 minutes
InsigniaISS Expedition 71 Patch.png
Crew photoThe official Expedition 71 crew portrait with CFT crew.jpg
ProgrammeExpeditions
Previous missionExpedition 70
Next missionExpedition 72

Expedition 71 was the 71st long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-24 on 6 April 2024[1] with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko continuing his ISS command from Expedition 70.[2][3] It ended with his departure on Soyuz MS-25 with crewmates from MS-24 and MS-25 on 23 September 2024.[4][5]

Background, Crew, and Events

Initially, the expedition consisted of Kononenko, his Russian Soyuz MS-24 crewmate Nikolai Chub (both on a year long ISS mission since 15 September 2023), and his American Soyuz MS-25 crewmate, Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, who launched on 23 March 2024, as well as SpaceX Crew-8 crewmates, American astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, who launched on 4 March 2024 and were transferred from Expedition 70 after Soyuz MS-24 departure.[5][3][6]

NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams arrived at the station on 6 June 2024 as part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test. Their visit was planned to be brief.[4][7][8] However, due to technical issues with their spacecraft, their stay was extended, and they became de facto members of the ISS crew. They assisted with various tasks, including research, housekeeping, and maintenance.[9] On 24 August 2024, NASA announced that the Boeing Starliner spacecraft would return to Earth uncrewed,[10] with Wilmore and Williams being formally added to the Expedition 71/72 crew and returning aboard SpaceX Crew-9 on 18 March 2025.

On 11 September 2024, Soyuz MS-26 arrived at the station, transporting Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, as well as NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.

Events manifest

Events involving crewed spacecraft are listed in bold.

Previous mission: Expedition 70

Next: Expedition 72

Crew

Flight[4]AstronautIncrement 71aIncrement 71bIncrement 71c
6 Apr – 6 Jun 20246 Jun – 11 Sep 202411 – 23 Sep 2024
Soyuz MS-25Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Fifth spaceflight		Commander[1]
Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
First spaceflight		Flight engineer
Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, NASA
Third spaceflight		Flight engineer
SpaceX Crew-8Matthew Dominick, NASA
First spaceflight		Flight engineer
Michael Barratt, NASA
Third spaceflight		Flight engineer
Jeanette Epps, NASA
Only spaceflight		Flight engineer
Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos
First spaceflight		Flight engineer
Boeing Crew Flight TestBarry E. Wilmore, NASA
Third and last spaceflight		Off stationFlight engineer
Sunita Williams, NASA
Third and last spaceflight		Off stationFlight engineer
Soyuz MS-26Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos
Third[a] spaceflight		Off stationFlight engineer
Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos
Second spaceflight		Off stationFlight engineer
Donald Pettit, NASA
Fourth spaceflight		Off stationFlight engineer

Crewed test flight

MissionAstronautsDocking (UTC)Undocking (UTC)Duration
Boeing Crew Flight TestBarry Wilmore, NASA
Sunita Williams, NASA		6 June 2024, 17:34[8]6 September 2024, 22:04 (uncrewed)[8]93 days
Besides the expedition crew, a Boeing Starliner spacecraft visited the station for a crewed flight test, consisting of NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams.[8] The spacecraft Calypso[12] launched and docked to the station in June 2024. The flight marked the first crewed test flight of the Starliner. Crew members were scheduled to stay aboard the station for approximately 6 days, but the mission was extended due to issues with the spacecraft. Despite months of testing, NASA felt it was not able to understand why the thrusters malfunctioned and decided that it was too risky to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth aboard Starliner. Instead, they rode down on the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule, and the Boeing spacecraft returned uncrewed. Until Crew-9 arrived, they along with their seat liners moved to SpaceX Crew-8, their temporary emergency evacuation spacecraft, after which they and their seat liners transferred to Crew-9.[13] It was the first launch of humans from Cape Canaveral since Apollo 7 in October 1968 and first launch of humans from SLC-41.[8]

Vehicle manifest

Vehicle[4]PurposePortDocking/capture dateUndocking date
Vehicles inherited from Expedition 70
Progress MS-25CargoPoisk zenith3 Dec 202328 May 2024
CRS NG-20CargoUnity nadir1 Feb 202412 Jul 2024
Progress MS-26CargoZvezda aft17 Feb 202413 Aug 2024
SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour"Exp. 70/71/72 crewHarmony forward5 Mar 20242 May 2024 (redock)
CRS SpX-30CargoHarmony zenith23 Mar 202428 Apr 2024
Soyuz MS-25 "Kazbek"Exp. 70/71 crew, Visiting Expedition 21Prichal nadir25 Mar 202423 Sep 2024
Vehicles docked during Expedition 71
SpaceX Crew-8 "Endeavour"Exp. 70/71/72 crewHarmony zenith2 May 2024 (redock)23 Oct 2024 (Exp. 72)
Progress MS-27CargoPoisk zenith1 Jun 202419 Nov 2024 (Exp. 72)
Boeing CFT "Calypso"Visiting CCDev missionHarmony forward6 Jun 20246 Sep 2024
CRS NG-21CargoUnity nadir6 Aug 202428 Mar 2025 (Exp. 72)
Progress MS-28CargoZvezda aft17 Aug 202425 Feb 2025 (Exp. 72)
Soyuz MS-26 "Burlak"Exp. 71/72 crewRassvet nadir11 Sep 202419 Apr 2025 (Exp. 72)
SegmentU.S. Orbital SegmentRussian Orbital Segment
PeriodHarmony forwardHarmony zenithHarmony nadirUnity nadirRassvet nadirPrichal nadirPoisk zenithZvezda aft
6–28 Apr 2024SpaceX Crew-8CRS SpX-30VacantCRS NG-20VacantSoyuz MS-25Progress MS-25Progress MS-26
28 Apr–2 May 2024Vacant
2–28 May 2024VacantSpaceX Crew-8
28 May–1 Jun 2024Vacant
1–6 Jun 2024Progress MS-27
6 Jun–12 Jul 2024Boeing CFT
12 Jul–6 Aug 2024Vacant
6–13 Aug 2024CRS NG-21
13–17 Aug 2024Vacant
17 Aug–6 Sep 2024Progress MS-28
6–11 Sep 2024Vacant
11-23 Sep 2024Soyuz MS-26

The Prichal aft, forward, starboard, and aft ports all have yet to be used since the module originally docked to the station and are not included in the table.

Notes

  1. ^ Not counting the aborted flight of Soyuz MS-10.

References

  1. ^ Evans, Ben (10 September 2023). "Better Late Than Never: New ISS Crew Prepares to Fly, All-Female EVAs Possible in October". AmericaSpace.com. Archived 29 September 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. ^ Harwood, William (2024-03-11). "4 International Space Station crew members undock, head for Tuesday splashdown in Gulf of Mexico – CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  3. ^ "Expedition 71 Crew Discusses Six-Month ISS Increment, Crew-9 Announcement Expected Next Week – AmericaSpace". www.americaspace.com. 2024-01-25. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  4. ^ "Complete ISS flight events". NasaSpaceFlight.com Forum. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. ^ "NASA Expedition 71 Astronauts to Conduct Research aboard Space Station – NASA". 2024-02-09. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  6. ^ "NASA's expedition 71 astronauts prepare for crucial research on international space station". India Today NE. 2024-02-11. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  7. ^ Sturm, Karin (20 November 2023). "Stars aligning for Boeing crew launch in April". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived 27 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut launch delayed again, to May 6". Space.com. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ Donaldson, Abbey A. (8 July 2024). "NASA, Boeing Provide Next Update on Space Station Crew Flight Test". NASA. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  10. ^ Taveau, Jessica (2024-08-24). "NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew". NASA. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  11. ^ Garcia, Mark (2024-09-04). "Crew Studies Space Effects on Humans, Prepares Spaceships for Departure". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  12. ^ Dunbar, Brian (December 22, 2019). "Starliner Returns to Earth With a New Name: Calypso". NASA.
  13. ^ Garcia, Mark (2024-09-04). "Crew Studies Space Effects on Humans, Prepares Spaceships for Departure". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-05.