Soyuz MS-17 - Expedition 64 - Hatch Opening, October 14, 2020

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos joined Expedition 63, Commander Chris Cassidy of NASA and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner aboard the International Space Station, when the hatches between the Soyuz spacecraft and the orbiting laboratory officially opened at 13:07 UTC.

Cassidy, Ivanishin, and Vagner are scheduled to depart the space station and land on Earth on the steppe of Kazakhstan Wednesday, Oct. 21, in the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft that brought them to the station on April 9.

A change of command ceremony is scheduled on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Although launching as part of the Expedition 63 crew, Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov will become the Expedition 64 crew under Ryzhikov’s command upon the departure of Cassidy, Ivanishin, and Vagner.

The crew members of Expedition 64 will continue work on hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science, and Earth science aboard the International Space Station, and humanity’s only permanently occupied microgravity laboratory.

This is the second spaceflight for Rubins and Ryzhikov. Kud-Sverchkov becomes the 241st person to visit the unique microgravity laboratory, and the trio will be aboard to celebrate the 20th anniversary of uninterrupted human presence since the Expedition 1 crew arrived Nov. 2, 2000. Humanity’s home in space has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from people in 108 countries and areas.