Soyuz MS-07 was a

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

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

Expedition 54 Expedition 54 was the 54th expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-05 on December 14, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-06 on February 27, 2018. Alexander Misurkin, Mark Vande He ...

crew to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

. 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 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 federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Anton Shkaplerov Anton Nikolaevich Shkaplerov (; born 20 February 1972) is a former Russian cosmonaut. He is a veteran of four spaceflights. Early life Shkaplerov was born 20 February 1972, in Sevastopol, Crimea. He is married to Tatyana Petrovna, and they hav ...

of the Russian space agency

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

, and

Norishige Kanai is a Japanese doctor and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 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 boar ...

of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

). The arrival of Tingle, Shkaplerov, and Kanai restored the station's crew complement to six. They have joined

Commander

Alexander Misurkin Alexander Alexanderovich Misurkin () (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 March 2013 as his first space mission, and launched on Soyuz MS-06 ...

of Roscosmos and his crewmates,

Mark T. Vande Hei Mark Thomas Vande Hei (born November 10, 1966) is a retired United States Army officer and current NASA astronaut who has served as a flight engineer for Expedition 53, 54, 64, 65, and 66 on the International Space Station. Early life and e ...

and Joe Acaba 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