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| Expedition 50 (ISS) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Expedition 50 |
| Insignia caption | Expedition 50 mission patch |
| Mission type | Long-duration mission to the International Space Station |
| Crew | Shane Kimbrough; Sergey Ryzhikov; Andrey Borisenko; Peggy Whitson; Oleg Novitskiy; Thomas Pesquet |
| Spacecraft | Soyuz MS-02; Soyuz MS-03 |
| Start date | 10 October 2016 |
| End date | 10 April 2017 |
| Arrival craft | Soyuz MS-02 |
| Departure craft | Soyuz MS-02 |
| Previous | Expedition 49 |
| Next | Expedition 51 |
Expedition 50 (ISS) was the 50th long-duration mission to the International Space Station conducted under the partnership of NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, and other international partners. The expedition overlapped with crew rotations involving Soyuz MS-02 and Soyuz MS-03 and supported a wide range of research initiatives tied to programs at Marshall Space Flight Center, JAXA, CSA, and numerous universities. Commanded by Shane Kimbrough, the crew conducted operations coordinated with Mission Control Center (Moscow), Johnson Space Center, and flight controllers across Baikonur Cosmodrome and Kennedy Space Center.
The six-person crew comprised Shane Kimbrough (commander), Sergey Ryzhikov (flight engineer), Andrey Borisenko (flight engineer), Peggy Whitson (flight engineer), Oleg Novitskiy (flight engineer), and Thomas Pesquet (flight engineer). The roster represented agencies including NASA, Roscosmos, and ESA. Several members had flown on prior missions such as Soyuz TMA-18M, Soyuz TMA-10M, Expedition 16, and Expedition 50-era veterans integrated operations with teams from Roscosmos Flight Control and NASA Flight Operations Directorate.
Expedition 50 followed Expedition 49 and preceded Expedition 51, forming part of continuous habitation on the International Space Station managed under the Multilateral Coordination Board agreements among NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA. Objectives included station maintenance, scientific investigations across disciplines supported by National Laboratory allocations, and technology demonstrations for Deep Space Gateway concepts and life support advancements at centers like Ames Research Center and Johnson Space Center. Operations involved coordination with supply missions such as Progress MS-04 and commercial cargo vehicles like Dragon CRS-9.
Crew launch activities involved liftoff from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard Soyuz MS-02 and subsequent launches associated with crew rotation on Soyuz MS-03. Launch campaigns coordinated with range operations at Roscosmos State Commission and payload processing at Yuzhnoye Design Office. Docking to the Poisk module and later reconfigurations with the Rassvet module were conducted under trajectories planned by Mission Control Center (Moscow) and verified by sensors used in the Kurs system and TORU manual docking procedures.
On-orbit operations included routine maintenance, attitude control handovers involving the Zvezda module and Zarya module systems, and thermal control tasks linked to Photovoltaic Radiator hardware and Environmental Control and Life Support System components managed by Flight Director teams. Crew coordination covered payload integration with facilities like the Destiny laboratory, Columbus laboratory, and Kibo module pressurized module, while periodic cargo transfers were staged with Progress and commercial resupply nodes. Communications with ground were routed through TDRSS and supplemented by direct links to TsUP and Houston mission control centers.
Scientific work addressed biology, biotechnology, fluid physics, and human physiology using platforms such as the Microgravity Science Glovebox, the Biolab, the European Physiology Modules, and the Materials Science Laboratory. Investigations included experiments from institutions like NASA Ames Research Center, ESA ESTEC, JAXA Tsukuba, and teams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley. Payloads tested technology demonstrations relevant to Additive manufacturing in microgravity, radiation monitoring via instruments tied to ESA's DOSIS-3D lineage, and Earth observation contributions to Landsat and Sentinel programs.
Extravehicular activities were performed to service external systems on the station, including work on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier hardware, Solar Array reconfiguration tasks, and maintenance of Canadarm2 interfaces. Spacewalk planning involved procedures from Extravehicular Mobility Unit teams, coordination with the Robotics Operations Control Center, and contingency rehearsals in facilities like the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Notable EVA objectives linked to station upgrades and readiness for future cargo deliveries overseen by Mission Control teams in Houston and Moscow.
The expedition concluded with handover operations to Expedition 51 crews, undocking of crewed vehicles including Soyuz MS-02, and landing operations coordinated with recovery forces at designated sites in Kazakhstan supported by Russian Aerospace Forces search-and-rescue units and NASA medical teams. Post-mission activities included crew debriefs at Johnson Space Center, data handovers to institutions such as ESA and JAXA, and distribution of scientific results to academic partners including Stanford University and University College London for peer-reviewed analysis.
Category:Expeditions to the International Space Station