Expedition 52 (June - September 2017) was the 52nd expedition to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. It officially began on June 2, 2017 10:47 UTC, with the undocking of

Soyuz MS-03 Soyuz MS-03 was a Soyuz spaceflight launched on 17 November 2016. It transported three members of the Expedition 50 crew to the International Space Station. MS-03 was the 132nd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian comma ...

. Transfer of Command from

Expedition 51 Expedition 51 (April - June 2017) was the 51st expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-02 on April 10, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-03 on June 2, 2017. Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novi ...

was done on June 1, 2017. Due to a decision to cut down the number of participating Russian cosmonauts in 2017, only two crew members were launched on

Soyuz MS-04 Soyuz MS-04 was a Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 20 April 2017 to the ISS. It transported two members of the Expedition 52 crew to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-04 was the 133rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted ...

, which brought the ISS total crew down to five people. However, it was later decided that

Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other woman or American. Her first space mi ...

would stay on board longer, transferring from Expedition 51 to maintain a full crew of six astronauts over the summer, after the arrival of three new members on Soyuz MS-05. Expedition 51 officially ended on September 2, 2017 11:47 UTC, with the undocking of

Crew

Mission Highlights

June 2017 - Expedition 52 Begins

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson handed over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin in a traditional Change of Command ceremony, which began at 15:50 UTC on June 1.

Expedition 51 Duo Undocked and Landed

After spending 194 day aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 51 crew members Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet undocked from the station at 10:47 UTC, officially marking the start of Expedition 52. Novitskiy and Pesquet landed their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 14:10 UTC on June 2nd.

Supply Ship Swap

On June 3rd, a SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off with a Dragon resupply ship as part of SpaceX mission CRS-11 from Cape Canaveral pad 39A with supplies and a new Roll Out Solar Array (ROSA) prototype. Jack Fischer undocked the Cygus OA-7 dubbed "SS John Glenn" from the station on June 4 to make room for the Dragon resupply. Fischer and Whitson grappled the Dragon cargo craft on June 5 with the Canadarm2 and docked it on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony module on the Pirs docking compartment. The Roscosmos Progress MS-06 launched from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

on June 14, carrying more than 3 tons of supplies. The Progress MS-06 docked on June 16 to the aft port of Zvezda.

June Research

Fischer and Whitson performed observations of mold and bacteria samples for student-led biology experiments and

protein crystal Protein crystallization is the process of formation of a regular array of individual protein molecules stabilized by crystal contacts. If the crystal is sufficiently ordered, it will Diffraction, diffract. Some proteins naturally form crystallin ...

sample experiments. Whitson cared for rodents in the Rodent Habitat Facility to understand healing mechanisms and the efficiency of osteoinductive drugs in low gravity and performed experiments for a cardiac stem cell study to understand the effects of microgravity on the aging process. Fischer and Whitson set up a seedling growth botany study to investigate the effects of light and microgravity on ''

Arabidopsis thaliana ''Arabidopsis thaliana'', the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small flowering plant native to Eurasia and Africa. ''A. thaliana'' is considered a weed; it is found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land. A winter a ...

''. Fisher was also the subject of a Vascular Echo study that examined changes in blood vessels and the heart while in space and their recovery back on Earth. Yurchikhin studied pain sensation in space to help researches develop proposals to improve health care in orbit. Yurchikhin, Whitson and Fischer also took body measurements for the in-flight conditions that could be compared to pre- and post-flight conditions. Whitson started a cancer study to evaluate

antibody-drug conjugates Antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs are a class of biopharmaceutical drugs designed as a targeted therapy for treating cancer. Unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to target and kill tumor cells while sparing healthy cells. As of 2019, some 56 phar ...

, which can increase the effectiveness of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

while reducing its side effects.

July 2017 - Full Crew After Soyuz MS-05

Dragon CRS-11 Departs

Fischer and Whitson released the SpaceX Dragon CRS-11 on July 3 at 6:41 UTC.

July Research

Whitson tested her ability to work on interactive tasks as part of a Fine Motor Skills study to measure how motor skills are affected by long-term microgravity exposure, different phases of adaptation and recovery after returning to Earth. Fischer finished operations with a Group Combustion Module experiment, where droplets of

decane Decane is an alkane hydrocarbon with the chemical formula C10H22. Although 75 structural isomers are possible for decane, the term usually refers to the normal-decane ("''n''-decane"), with the formula CH3(CH2)8CH3. All isomers, however, exhib ...

were arranged on a thin-fiber lattice so that the flame and temperature distribution could be measured as the flame spreads. Whitson and Fischer also collected their own blood, urine and saliva samples for the Fluid Shifts experiment that measured how much fluid shifts from the lower body to the upper body in microgravity and the effects on the human eye. Whitson started the Mag3D experiment that magnetizes cells to make them easier to handle in microgravity. Whitson also setup gear for a Two Phase Flow experiment that studied interfacial behaviors of

perfluorohexane Perfluorohexane (), or tetradecafluorohexane, is a fluorocarbon. It is a derivative of hexane in which all of the hydrogen atoms are replaced by fluorine atoms. It is used in one formulation of the electronic cooling liquid/insulator Fluorinert ...

, an electronic coolant, under different conditions. Fischer used the exercise bike to research the effectiveness of high intensity, low volume exercise, which showed that maximum intensity exercise appears better for aerobic capacity than normal intensity exercise in microgravity.

Station Maintenance

Fyodor Yurchikhin maintained the life support system on the Russian side of the station by preplacing pumps and hoses and re-pressurizing the cabin. Jack Fischer replaced a failed water separator inside the Tranquility module that was part of the Common Cabin Air Assembly that controls the stations humidity and temperature. Fischer also installed new equipment in the Window Observational Research Facility (WORF).

New Crew

On July 28, the Soyuz MS-05 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Randy Bresnik of NASA, Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Italian

Paolo Nespoli Major Paolo Angelo Nespoli (born 6 April 1957) is an Italian astronaut and engineer of the European Space Agency (ESA). In 2007, he first traveled into space aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' as a mission specialist of STS-120. In December ...

of ESA. They docked later that day while both spacecraft were over Germany.

August 2017 - Research and Resupply

August Research

Nespoli and Bresnik recorded their experiences with space

headaches Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a result of m ...

, researches later concluded that changes in

cerebral blood flow Cerebral circulation is the movement of blood through a network of cerebral arteries and veins supplying the brain. The rate of cerebral blood flow in an adult human is typically 750 milliliters per minute, or about 15% of cardiac output. Arterie ...

and

intracranial pressure Intracranial pressure (ICP) is the pressure exerted by fluids such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inside the skull and on the brain tissue. ICP is measured in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and at rest, is normally 7–15 Millimeter of mercury, mmHg ...

caused them, opposed to the theory that it was space motion sickness. Fischer and Whitson studied a new drugs effects on mouse bone atrophy, current therapies cannot restore lost bone, but the new drug from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

had the potential to rebuild bone and block further bone loss.

SpaceX Delivered Supplies

On August 16, Fischer and Nespoli captured the

SpaceX CRS-12 SpaceX CRS-12, also known as SpX-12, was a Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station launched on 14 August 2017. The mission was contracted by NASA and was flown by SpaceX using a new Dragon capsule. The Falcon 9 ...

Dragon using the station's robotic arm and installed it on the station's Harmony module. The Dragon delivered more than 6,400 pounds of supplies including an ice cream treat for the astronauts.

Spacewalk

Yurchikhin and Ryazankiy exited the Pirs Docking Compartment on August 17th. They manually deployed 5 nanosatellites and collected test containers from various locations outside the Russian segment of the space station.

September 2017 - Mission Close Out

Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin touched down on September 3 at 1:21 UTC southeast of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan, in their

capsule. Whitson completed a 288-day mission, her third long duration mission which brought her career total to 665 days in space, a new record for U.S. and 8th on the all time list of days in space. Fischer and Yurchikin completed 136 days in space, giving Yurchikin a total of 673 days in space, placing him 7th of all time at that time.

Spacewalks

Uncrewed spaceflights to the ISS

Resupply missions that visited the International Space Station during Expedition 52:

References

{{ISS expeditions Expeditions to the International Space Station 2017 in spaceflight