ISS-50 Thomas Pesquet and Shane Kimbrough in the Cupola (1)

Expedition 50 was the 50th expedition to the International Space Station. Robert S. Kimbrough,

Andrei Borisenko Andrey Ivanovich Borisenko (russian: Андрей Иванович Борисенко; born 17 April 1964) is a Russian cosmonaut. He was selected as a cosmonaut in May 2003, and is a veteran of two long duration missions to the International Spa ...

and Sergey Ryzhikov transferred from Expedition 49. Expedition 50 began upon the departure of

Soyuz MS-01 Soyuz MS-01 was a 2016 Soyuz spaceflight to the International Space Station. Originally scheduled for launch in June 2016, the mission successfully lifted off from Kazakhstan on 7 July 2016. It transported three members of the Expedition 48 cr ...

on October 28, 2016 and was concluded upon the departure of

Soyuz MS-02 Soyuz MS-02 was a 2016 Soyuz spaceflight that was planned for a 23 September 2016 launch, but because of technical difficulties it launched on 19 October 2016. It transported three members of the Expedition 49 crew to orbit and docked with th ...

on April 10, 2017. The crew of Soyuz MS-03 were transferred to

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 ...

. After the launch of Soyuz MS-03,

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 ...

, at age 56, became the oldest woman to fly into space. By taking command of

on April 10, 2017, she also became the first woman to command two ISS expeditions (after

Expedition 16 Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and were joined by spaceflight participant Sheikh ...

in 2007–2008). Soyuz MS-03 docked at the International Space Station on November 19, 2016, bringing the total number of people in the station to 6.

Crew

Mission overview

Expedition 49/50 launch and docking

Soyuz MS-02 launched on October 19, 2016, transporting Robert S. Kimbrough,

and Sergey Ryzhikov, who would make up the Expedition 49/50 crew. MS-02 docked with the (Poisk (MRM-2) module on October 21, 2016.

Expedition 50/51 launch and docking

Soyuz MS-03 launched on November 17, 2016, transporting

Oleg Novitskiy Oleg Viktorovich Novitskiy (russian: Олег Викторович Новицкий; born October 12, 1971) is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Russian Air Force who logged over 700 hours of flight time and was awarded for bravery. He is cur ...

and

Thomas Pesquet Thomas Gautier Pesquet (; born 27 February 1978 in Rouen) is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, and European Space Agency astronaut. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in Nov ...

. MS-03 docked with the Rassvet module on November 19, 2016.

Activities

On 25 December 2016 the crew celebrated Christmas by floating in micro-gravity and opening Christmas presents recently delivered on a Japanese cargo spacecraft. One astronaut wore a Santa hat in orbit. The French astronaut Pesquet shared special French food with the station crew. Pesquet also made a Christmas-time special video for the ESA. Expedition50 Columbuslab

Science activities

Uncrewed spaceflights to the ISS

A number of resupply missions visited the International Space Station during Expedition 50.

Spacewalks

References

External links

NASA's Space Station Expedition 50 page
{{ISS expeditions Expeditions to the International Space Station 2016 in spaceflight 2017 in spaceflight