Expedition 66

Occurred 4 years ago

The Expedition 66 crew tested new antimicrobial and hydrogen sensor technologies for safer space habitats. The astronauts also manufactured advanced optical fibers and studied ways to assess the risk of disease in microgravity.

Mission Type

ISS Expedition

meet the crew

Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Matthias Maurer, Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov, Kayla Barron, Mark Vande Hei

Launch

Oct. 17, 2021

Landing

March 30, 2022

👁 Image

The official portrait of the seven-member Expedition 66 crew. From left are, NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn; ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer; Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov; and NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Mark Vande Hei.

NASA

👁 Image

The official insignia of the Expedition 66 mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA

Crew Members

Anton Shkaplerov, Commander
Raja Chari, Flight Engineer
Thomas Marshburn, Flight Engineer
Matthias Maurer, Flight Engineer
Pyotr Dubrov, Flight Engineer
Kayla Barron, Flight Engineer
Mark Vande Hei, Flight Engineer

Crew and Cargo Missions

3/30/22 – Soyuz MS-19 Undock/Land
3/18/22 – Soyuz MS-21 Launch/Dock
2/21/22 – Cygnus CRS-17 Capture
2/19/22 – Cygnus CRS-17 Launch
2/17/22 – ISS Progress 80 Dock
2/14/22 – ISS Progress 80 Launch
1/23/22 – SpaceX CRS-24 Undock
12/22/21 – Progress Propulsion Module Undocks
12/22/21 – SpaceX CRS-24 Dock
12/21/21 – SpaceX CRS-24 Launch
12/19/21 – Soyuz MS-20 Undock/Land
12/8/21 – Soyuz MS-20 Launch/Dock
11/26/21 – Prichal Module Dock
11/25/21 – ISS Progress 78 Undock
11/24/21 – Prichal Module Launch
11/20/21 – Cygnus CRS-16 Release
11/11/21 – SpaceX Crew-3 Dock
11/10/21 – SpaceX Crew-3 Launch
11/8/21 – SpaceX Crew-2 Splashdown
11/8/21 – SpaceX Crew-2 Undock
10/29/21 – ISS Progress 79 Dock
10/27/21 – ISS Progress 79 Launch
10/21/21 – ISS Progress 78 Redock
10/20/21 – ISS Progress 78 Undock
10/17/21 – Soyuz MS-18 Undock/Land

Spacewalks

Date: March 23, 2022
Duration: 6 hours, 54 minutes
Spacewalkers: Raja Chari, Matthias Maurer

Date: March 15, 2022
Duration: 6 hours, 54 minutes
Spacewalkers: Kayla Barron, Raja Chari

Date: Jan. 19, 2022
Duration: 7 hours, 11 minutes
Spacewalkers: Anton Shkaplerov, Pyotr Dubrov

Date: Dec. 2, 2021
Duration: 6 hours, 32 minutes
Spacewalkers: Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron

Expedition 66 Resources

👁 Official Expedition 66 Crew Insignia

Mission Blogs

The daily blog updates for Expedition 66 highlighting crew and cargo missions, spacewalks, and advanced space research.

👁 The sun's first rays burst over the Earth's horizon

Mission Summary

Get an overview of the Expedition, its crew and the activities they are working on during this mission to the International Space Station.

👁 The Solid Fuel Ignition and Extinction (SoFIE) Growth and Extinction Limits (GEL) experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) studies flame growth and extinction in an effort to improve fire safety in space. This image shows a sequence of snapshots taken about 3 seconds apart. During this test point, the ambient oxygen concentration starts relatively high (28%). Initially, the flame is seen as yellow and sooty. As the ambient pressure is reduced, the flame becomes bluer and continues to shrink until fully extinguished. This gives researchers pressure limit data points for flame extinction that could help improve crew and spacecraft safety for future exploration missions.

Mission Science

Learn more about the range of microgravity science encompassing human research, space phsyics, and more the Expedition 66 crew has conducted.

👁 The SpaceX Crew-2 official insignia

SpaceX Crew-2 Science

The SpaceX Crew-2 members studied space-caused muscle loss, an ultrasound beam to manipulate objects, natural and man-made Earth changes, fire safety in space, and more.

👁 The official insignia of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission

SpaceX Crew-3 Science

The SpaceX Crew-3 members researched advanced sensors to maneuver spacecraft, improving spaceflight nutrition, nanocrystals, space exercise techniques, and more.

👁 One of the Expedition 41 crew members aboard the International Space Station, flying at an altitude of 222 nautical miles above a point in the Atlantic Ocean several hundred miles off the coast of Africa near the Tropic of Cancer, photographed this eye-catching panorama of the night sky and the Milky Way on Sept. 27. NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, flight engineer, tweeted the image, which was taken with an electronic still camera, set with a 24mm focal length. In his accompanying comments, Wiseman stated, "Sahara sands make the Earth glow orange."

Mission Imagery

During Expedition 66, the crew took images of the Earth views, the orbiting station, their daily lives aboard and the experiments they conducted during their stay, plus so much more. Check out some of the image highlights from Expedition 66 in the gallery.

👁 The International Space Station