Expedition 53


Expedition 53 was the 53rd expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-04 on September 3, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-05 on December 14, 2017. Randolph Bresnik, Paolo Nespoli and Sergey Ryazansky were transferred from Expedition 52, with Randolph Bresnik taking the commander role. Transfer of Command from Expedition 53 to Expedition 54 was done on December 13, 2017. Expedition 53 officially ended on December 14, 2017 5:14 UTC, with the undocking of Soyuz MS-05.

Crew

In March 2017, after agreements with RSA, NASA announced that Joseph Acaba will be assigned to Expedition 53 and 54 crews which previously included only Mark Vande Hei and Alexander Misurkin. Shannon Walker trained as a backup for Acaba.

Mission overview

Expedition 52/53 launch and docking

Soyuz MS-05 launched on July 28, 2017, transporting Randy Bresnik, Sergey Ryazansky and Paolo Nespoli, who would make up the Expedition 52/53 crew. MS-05 docked with the Rassvet module six hours later.

Expedition 53/54 launch and docking

Soyuz MS-06 launched on September 13, 2017, transporting Alexander Misurkin, Mark T. Vande Hei and Joe Acaba. MS-06 docked with the module six hours later.

Activities

Spacewalks

Uncrewed spaceflights to the ISS

Resupply missions that visited the International Space Station during Expedition 53:
Spacecraft
- ISS flight number		CountryMissionLauncherLaunch
Docked/Berthed
Undocked/Unberthed
Duration Deorbit
Progress MS-07
- ISS 68P		LogisticsSoyuz-2.1a14 Oct 2017, 08:47:1116 Oct 2017, 00:0028 Mar 2018, 13:5026 Apr 2018, 04:08
Cygnus CRS OA-8E
- CRS OA-8E		LogisticsAntares 23012 Nov 2017, 12:20:2614 Nov 2017, 10:046 Dec 2017, 13:1118 Dec 2017, 12:54