Expedition 75 Welcomes Crew-13 and Preps for Crew-12 Departure

Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov took over command of the International Space Station from NASA astronaut Jessica Meir in a traditional change of command ceremony on October 4. As the Expedition 75 crew prepared for two crew swaps, four new members joined the space station and another four were preparing for their return to Earth.

The newest crew, comprised of NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Josh Kutryk, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov, have been aboard the station since October 1. They began their six-month research mission after launching aboard a SpaceX Dragon and docking to the Harmony module.

Meanwhile, the current Expedition 12 crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, will depart the station on October 7. The departure is scheduled for 8:05 a.m. EDT, with the crew undocking from Harmony’s space-facing port and orbiting Earth for over a day inside Dragon.

After reentering Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on October 8, the crew will have completed a nearly eight-month space mission. Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov will remain on the space station with flight engineers Anna Kikina and Anil Menon until spring 2027. Following the departure of Expedition 12, Northrop Grumman’s uncrewed Cygnus XL resupply ship, attached to the Unity module since April 13, will be the next spacecraft to leave the station.

The cargo spacecraft, loaded with trash and discarded gear by NASA flight engineers Menon and Hathaway, will be released from the station into Earth orbit with the Canadarm2 robotic arm at the end of the week. SpaceX will then launch Dragon on its 35th commercial resupply mission to deliver science and supplies to the Expedition 75 crew.