Soyuz MS-07 was a

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз ( Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...

spaceflight launched on 17 December 2017 at 07:21 UTC. It transported three members of the Expedition 54 crew 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 ( ...

. Soyuz MS-07 was the 136th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew consisted of a Russian commander, Japanese doctor, and an American flight engineer.

Crew

Backup crew

Crew notes

Originally Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Skvortsov was to have commanded the mission, although he was removed from the flight crew and pushed back to

Soyuz MS-13 Soyuz MS-13, also designated ISS flight 59S, was a crewed Soyuz mission launched on 20 July 2019 – the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing – carrying three members of the Expedition 60 crew to the International Space Station: a Rus ...

due to a temporary medical issue, Shkaplerov was brought off the backup crew and replaced him as Soyuz commander and ISS commander for Expedition 55.

Mission

The Soyuz spacecraft was carrying Scott Tingle of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Anton Shkaplerov Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov (russian: Антон Николаевич Шкаплеров; born 20 February 1972) is a Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of four spaceflights. Personal life Shkaplerov is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they ...

of the Russian space agency

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

, and

Norishige Kanai is a Japanese doctor and JAXA astronaut. He is a lieutenant and Diving Medical Officer in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Medical Service Division, 1st Service School). He served as a crew member on board the International Space Station f ...

of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA). The arrival of Tingle, Shkaplerov, and Kanai restored the station's crew complement to six. They have joined Expedition 54 Commander

Alexander Misurkin Alexander Alexanderovich Misurkin (russian: Aлександр Aлександрович Мисуркин) (born 23 September 1977), a major in the Russian Air Force, is a Russian cosmonaut, selected in 2006. He flew aboard Soyuz TMA-08M on 28 ...

of Roscosmos and his crewmates, Mark T. Vande Hei and

Joe Acaba Joseph Michael "Joe" Acabá (born May 17, 1967) is a Puerto Rican educator, hydrogeologist, and NASA astronaut. In May 2004 he became the first person of Puerto Rican heritage to be named as a NASA astronaut candidate, when he was selected as ...

of NASA. The crew members spent more than four months conducting approximately 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development. Vande Hei, Acaba, and Misurkin are remain aboard the station until February 2018, and Tingle, Shkaplerov, and Kanai have returned to Earth in June 2018. This crew continues the long-term increase in crew size on the U.S. segment from three to four, allowing NASA to maximize time dedicated to research on the space station. Highlights of upcoming investigations include the benefits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in a microgravity environment, a new study looking at structures that are vital to the design of advanced optical materials and electronic devices, and examining a drug compound and drug delivery system designed to combat muscular breakdown in space or during other prolonged periods of disuse, such as extended bed rest on Earth. For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 2,100 research investigations from researchers in more than 95 countries.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2017 Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 2017 2017 in Russia Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-FG rockets Spacecraft which reentered in 2018