List of commanders of the International Space Station explained

This is a chronological list of commanders of the International Space Station. A pre-decided inhabitant of the ISS assumes command upon departure of the previous commander, at the end of an expedition, in a small hand-over ceremony. Their responsibility is defined by the ISS Code of Conduct, which states that the ISS commander has some authority over the operations of the ISS, but should ultimately defer most decisions to the Flight Director.[1]

The commander keeps a symbolic key of the station with them during their tenure, that is, a copy of the handle opening the hatches to the Russian segment. It is passed on to a new astronaut when they replace the existing commander as the new station commander.[2]

Continued international collaboration on ISS missions has been thrown into doubt by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions on Russia.[3]

Responsibilities

Ceremony

A ceremony occurs at each change of command, similar to rituals in various military services. The new and old commanders together ring a bell. The first occurred when Yury V. Usachev of Expedition 2 replaced Expedition 1 commander William M. Shepherd.[4]

List

ExpeditionPatchPortraitCommanderAssumed commandRelinquished commandNotes (while in command of the expedition)
Expedition 1 William M. Shepherd[5] 31 October 2000[6] 19 March 2001First commander of the ISS and also first American commander of the ISS.
Expedition 2 Yury Usachev[7] 19 March 200118 August 2001[8] First Russian commander of ISS.
Expedition 3 Frank Culbertson18 August 200113 December 2001[9] Only American onboard ISS during September 11 attacks.[10]
Expedition 4 Yury Onufrienko13 December 200110 June 2002[11]
Expedition 5 Valery Korzun10 June 200230 November 2002[12]
Expedition 6 Kenneth Bowersox30 November 20024 May 2003[13]
Expedition 7 Yuri Malenchenko4 May 200327 October 2003[14] First person to marry in space.[15]
Expedition 8 Michael Foale27 October 200326 April 2004[16]
Expedition 9 Gennady Padalka26 April 200422 October 2004[17]
Expedition 10 Leroy Chiao22 October 200424 April 2005[18] First Asian-American commander of ISS.
Expedition 11 Sergei K. Krikalev24 April 200510 October 2005[19]
Expedition 12 William S. McArthur 10 October 20057 April 2006[20]
Expedition 13 Pavel Vinogradov7 April 200627 September 2006[21]
Expedition 14 Michael López-Alegría27 September 200617 April 2007[22]
Expedition 15 Fyodor Yurchikhin17 April 200719 October 2007[23]
Expedition 16 Peggy Whitson19 October 200717 April 2008[24] First female commander of ISS.[25]
Expedition 17 Sergei Volkov17 April 200822 October 2008[26] Youngest person to command the station at 35.
Expedition 18 Michael Fincke22 October 20082 April 2009[27]
Expedition 19 Gennady Padalka2 April 20099 October 2009[28] Second time as commander.
Expedition 20
Expedition 21 Frank De Winne9 October 20091 December 2009[29] First Belgian national as commander, first ESA astronaut as commander, and first non-American or non-Russian commander.
Expedition 22 Jeffrey N. Williams1 December 200917 March 2010[30]
Expedition 23 Oleg Kotov17 March 20102 June 2010
Expedition 24 Aleksandr Skvortsov2 June 201022 September 2010[31]
Expedition 25 Douglas H. Wheelock22 September 201024 November 2010[32]
Expedition 26 Scott J. Kelly24 November 201013 March 2011[33]
Expedition 27 Dmitri Kondratyev13 March 201122 May 2011[34]
Expedition 28 Andrei Borisenko22 May 201114 September 2011[35]
Expedition 29 Mike Fossum14 September 201120 November 2011[36]
Expedition 30 Dan Burbank20 November 201125 April 2012[37]
Expedition 31 Oleg Kononenko25 April 20121 July 2012
Expedition 32 Gennady Padalka1 July 201215 September 2012[38] Third time as commander.
Expedition 33 Sunita Williams15 September 201217 November 2012[39]
Expedition 34 Kevin A. Ford17 November 201213 March 2013[40]
Expedition 35 Chris Hadfield13 March 201313 May 2013[41] First Canadian national as commander.
Expedition 36 Pavel Vinogradov13 May 20139 September 2013[42] Second time as commander.
Expedition 37 Fyodor Yurchikhin9 September 201310 November 2013Second time as commander.
Expedition 38 Oleg Kotov10 November 20139 March 2014[43] Second time as commander.
Expedition 39 Koichi Wakata9 March 201412 May 2014[44] First Japanese national as commander.
Expedition 40 Steven R. Swanson12 May 20149 September 2014[45]
Expedition 41 Maksim Surayev9 September 201410 November 2014[46]
Expedition 42 Barry E. Wilmore10 November 201410 March 2015[47]
Expedition 43 Terry W. Virts, Jr.10 March 201510 June 2015[48]
Expedition 44 Gennady Padalka10 June 20155 September 2015[49] Fourth time as commander; set the record for most time spent in space (878 days) until Oleg Kononenko surpassed him on February 4, 2024.
Expedition 45 Scott Kelly5 September 201529 February 2016[50] Second time as commander.
Expedition 46
Expedition 47 Timothy L. Kopra29 February 201617 June 2016[51]
Expedition 48 Jeffrey Williams17 June 20165 September 2016[52] Second time as commander.
Expedition 49 Anatoli Ivanishin5 September 201628 October 2016[53]
Expedition 50 Robert S. Kimbrough28 October 20169 April 2017[54]
Expedition 51 Peggy A. Whitson9 April 20171 June 2017Second time as commander.
Expedition 52 Fyodor Yurchikhin[55] 1 June 20171 September 2017[56] Third time as commander.
Expedition 53 Randolph J. Bresnik1 September 201713 December 2017[57]
Expedition 54 Alexander Misurkin13 December 201726 February 2018[58]
Expedition 55 Anton Shkaplerov26 February 20181 June 2018[59]
Expedition 56 Andrew Feustel1 June 20184 October 2018[60]
Expedition 57 Alexander Gerst4 October 201818 December 2018[61] First German national and second youngest person to command the station at 42.
Expedition 58 Oleg Kononenko18 December 201824 June 2019[62] Second time as commander.
Expedition 59
Expedition 60 Aleksey Ovchinin24 June 20192 October 2019[63]
Expedition 61 Luca Parmitano2 October 20196 February 2020[64] First Italian national as commander.
Expedition 62 Oleg Skripochka6 February 202015 April 2020[65]
Expedition 63 Chris Cassidy15 April 202020 October 2020
Expedition 64 Sergey Ryzhikov[66] [67] [68] 20 October 202015 April 2021
Expedition 65 Shannon Walker 15 April 202127 April 2021Shortest term as commander at 11 days.
Akihiko Hoshide[69] 27 April 20214 October 2021
Thomas Pesquet[70] 4 October 20218 November 2021First French national as commander.
Anton Shkaplerov[71] 8 November 202129 March 2022Second time as commander. -Expedition 67 Thomas Marshburn[72] [73] 29 March 20224 May 2022
Oleg Artemyev4 May 202228 September 2022
Expedition 68 Samantha Cristoforetti[74] 28 September 202212 October 2022First European female as commander.
Sergey Prokopyev12 October 202226 September 2023
Expedition 69
Expedition 70 Andreas Mogensen26 September 202310 March 2024First Danish national as commander.
Oleg Kononenko10 March 202422 September 2024Third time as commander.
Expedition 71
Expedition 72 Sunita Williams[75] 22 September 2024February 2025Second time as commander.

Statistics

A Russian national has commanded the station 31 times, including the current one. A US national has commanded the station 28 times.[76] Japanese and Italian nationals have commanded the station 2 times. Belgian, British, Canadian, Danish, German, and French nationals have commanded the station once each.

Gennady Padalka has commanded the station on 4 separate occasions, more than any other inhabitant.

Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kononenko have commanded the station thrice. Scott Kelly, Oleg Kotov, Anton Shkaplerov, Pavel Vinogradov, Peggy Whitson, Jeffrey Williams, and Sunita Williams have commanded the station twice each.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Subpart 1214.4—International Space Station Crew. U.S. Government.
  2. 1457068250034999301. Anton_Astrey. I was glad to take command of the @Space_Station from @Thom_astro The transfer of authority happens during the t…. 6 November 2021.
  3. Witze . Alexandra . Russia's invasion of Ukraine is redrawing the geopolitics of space . Nature . 13 March 2022 . 10.1038/d41586-022-00727-x . 11 March 2022. 35277688 . 247407886 .
  4. Web site: Weibel . Deana L. . 2024-09-30 . "Not quite the plan, but here we are": NASA ritual and the reintegration of the Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts . 2024-10-01 . The Space Review.
  5. Web site: International Space Hall of Fame :: New Mexico Museum of Space History :: Inductee Profile. nmspacemuseum.org. 2020-04-15. 2019-04-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410201909/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=153. dead.
  6. Web site: UNSA-Notable Graduates. United States Naval Academy.
  7. Book: Celebrating 30 Years of the space shuttle program. U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; annotated edition (June 15, 2012). 2012. 978-0-16-090202-4. 213.
  8. Web site: Space Station Has a New Commander - 2001-08-18 Voice of America - English. voanews.com. en. 2020-04-15.
  9. Web site: Volume 2 Space Shuttle Mission Chronology: 2000-2003. 2005. NASA.
  10. Web site: NASA Remembers September 11th. Smith. Yvette. 2015-08-25. NASA. en. 2020-04-15.
  11. Web site: Spaceflight Now STS-111 Command of space station handed to new crew. spaceflightnow.com. 2020-04-16.
  12. Web site: U.S. Astronaut Takes Over at Space Station. 2002-11-30. Los Angeles Times. en-US. 2020-04-16.
  13. Web site: International Space Station Status Report #03-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20030714142447/http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2003/iss03-21.html. dead. 2003-07-14. spaceflight.nasa.gov. 2020-04-16.
  14. Web site: International Space Station Status Report #03-56. https://web.archive.org/web/20041117184206/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/reports/issreports/2003/iss03-56.html. dead. 2004-11-17. spaceflight.nasa.gov. 2020-04-16.
  15. Web site: The story of the first ever space wedding, when a woman on Earth married a cardboard cutout of her astronaut boyfriend while he watched on from the International Space Station. Baker. Sinéad. Business Insider. 2020-04-16.
  16. Web site: Photo-iss008e22320. https://web.archive.org/web/20041109193416/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-9/html/iss008e22320.html. dead. 2004-11-09. spaceflight.nasa.gov. 2020-04-16.
  17. Web site: NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 20 October 2004. spaceref.com. 2020-04-16.
  18. Web site: NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 24 April 2005. spaceref.com. 2020-04-16.
  19. Web site: Russian-U.S. crew, space tourist return to Earth The Star Online. thestar.com.my. 2020-04-16.
  20. Web site: Mission's End: ISS Astronauts to Return to Earth. April 2006. Tariq Malik 08. Space.com. 8 April 2006. en. 2020-04-16.
  21. Web site: Expedition 14 takes over ISS command. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  22. Web site: New crew assumes space station duties. phys.org. en. 2020-04-16.
  23. Web site: NASA - First Woman Station Commander Arrives for Historic Spaceflight. yvette. nasa.gov. en. 2020-04-16.
  24. Web site: Photo-iss016e036373. https://web.archive.org/web/20080426085457/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-17/html/iss016e036373.html. dead. 2008-04-26. spaceflight.nasa.gov. 2020-04-16.
  25. Web site: NASA's Record-Breaking Astronaut Peggy Whitson Gets 3 Extra Months in Space. April 2017. Hanneke Weitering 05. Space.com. 5 April 2017. en. 2020-04-16.
  26. Web site: NASA - Expedition 17 and Expedition 18 Crews. nasa.gov. en. 2020-04-16.
  27. Web site: NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 2 April 2009. spaceref.com. 2020-04-16.
  28. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report Increment 20 9 October 2009. spaceref.com. 2020-04-16.
  29. Web site: Expedition 21 and 22 Assembling Science. September 2009.
  30. Web site: NASA TV Provides Coverage of One Space Station Crew's Return to Earth and Another's Journey There. NASA. prnewswire.com. en. 2020-04-16.
  31. News: NASA TV To Provide Coverage Of Next Soyuz Landing, Launch. September 2010.
  32. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report # 82, Increment 25/26. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  33. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report # 90, Increment 26/27. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  34. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report # 95, Increment 27/28. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  35. Web site: NASA TV Will Broadcast Soyuz Landing On Sept. 15. Administrator. NASA Content. 2015-04-07. NASA. en. 2020-04-16.
  36. Web site: New Space Station Crew Members Launch from Kazakhstan. yvette. 2015-04-07. NASA. en. 2020-04-16.
  37. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report # 118 Increment 30/31. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  38. Web site: Record-Setting Female Astronaut Takes Command of Space Station. September 2012. Tariq Malik 15. Space.com. 15 September 2012. en. 2020-04-16.
  39. Web site: ESA ISS Science & System - Operations Status Report # 133 Increment 33/34 : 17–30 November. esa.int. en. 2020-04-16.
  40. Web site: Canada in Charge: Astronaut Becomes 1st Canadian Space Station Commander. March 2013. Robert Z. Pearlman 14. Space.com. 14 March 2013. en. 2020-04-16.
  41. Web site: Expedition 35/36 Crews Place Logos. Administrator. NASA Content. 2015-03-29. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  42. Web site: Expedition 36 Crew Members. Garcia. Mark. 2015-03-29. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  43. Web site: Kibo Commander: Koichi Wakata Becomes 1st Japanese to Command Space Station. March 2014. Robert Z. Pearlman 10. Space.com. 10 March 2014. en. 2020-04-16.
  44. Web site: NASA TV to Air Expedition 39's Return From ISS Today!. 2014-05-13. UH Cullen College of Engineering. en. 2020-04-16.
  45. Web site: NASA Television to Broadcast Sept. 10 Return of Space Station Crew. Northon. Karen. 2015-04-07. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  46. Web site: Tennessee astronaut assumes command of space station. wbir.com. 2020-04-16.
  47. Web site: ISS Expedition 42/43 Change of Command Ceremony (Wilmore hands over ISS Command to Virts). Williams. Robert. 2015-02-05. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  48. Web site: ISS Expedition 43/44 Change of Command Ceremony (Virts hands over ISS Command to Padalka) (Starts at 10:40 a.m.). Williams. Robert. 2015-06-05. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  49. Web site: ISS Expedition 44/45 Change of Command Ceremony (Padalka hands over ISS Command to Kelly) (starts at 2:40 p.m.). Williams. Robert. 2015-07-31. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  50. Web site: ISS Expedition 46/47 Change of Command Ceremony (Kelly hands over ISS command to Kopra) (starts at 3:10 p.m.). Williams. Robert. 2016-01-27. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  51. Web site: Astronauts Swap Station Command Friday Morning – Space Station. blogs.nasa.gov. en-US. 2020-04-16.
  52. Web site: Expedition 48 Trio Enters Soyuz and Closes Hatches – Space Station. blogs.nasa.gov. en-US. 2020-04-16. 2022-05-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20220521102219/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/09/06/expedition-48-trio-enters-soyuz-and-closes-hatches/. dead.
  53. Web site: ISS Expedition 49-50 Change of Command Ceremony (Ivanishin hands over ISS command to Kimbrough). Chestnut. Charles. 2016-10-27. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  54. Web site: ISS Expedition 50/51 Change of Command Ceremony (Kimbrough hands over ISS Command to Whitson) (Starts at 10:40a.m.). Williams. Robert. 2017-03-14. NASA. 2020-04-16.
  55. Web site: Expedition 51 – Space Station. blogs.nasa.gov. en-US. 2020-04-16.
  56. Web site: Change of command ceremony expedition 52-53. 2017-09-02.
  57. Web site: ISS Expedition 53/54 Change of Command Ceremony (Bresnik hands over ISS command to Misurkin) (Starts at 7:35 a.m.). Chestnut. Charles. 2017-11-16. NASA. 2020-04-15.
  58. Web site: Space Station Photos: Expedition 55 Crew in Orbit. March 2018. Christine Lunsford 04. Space.com. 4 March 2018. en. 2020-04-15.
  59. Web site: One station crew heads home, another preps for launch – Spaceflight Now. Harwood. William. en-US. 2020-04-15.
  60. Web site: International Space Station Expedition 56 Crew Returns to Earth, Lands Safely in Kazakhstan . spacecoastdaily.com. 2020-04-15.
  61. Web site: Watch the ISS's Expedition 57 crew head back to Earth. Hu. Jane C.. Quartz. en. 2020-04-15.
  62. Web site: Expedition 59 – Space Station. blogs.nasa.gov. en-US. 2020-04-15.
  63. Web site: Station Swaps Commanders Before Crew Departure and Spacewalks – Space Station. blogs.nasa.gov. en-US. 2020-04-15. 2019-10-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20191003104057/https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/10/02/station-swaps-commanders-before-crew-departure-and-spacewalks/. dead.
  64. Web site: Three astronauts will return to Earth Thursday. You can watch their landing live.. February 2020. Hanneke Weitering 05. Space.com. 5 February 2020. en. 2020-04-15.
  65. Web site: Watch live tonight! 3 space station crewmembers return to Earth. April 2020. Space com Staff 16. Space.com. en. 2020-04-16.
  66. anik1982space . 1259112811407564801 . 9 May 2020 . Вот и новые составы российских экипажей «Союза МС-17» стали известны из пресс-релиза аэропорта Жуковский.
    Основной: Сергей Рыжиков, Сергей Кудь-Сверчков.
    Дублирующий: Олег Новицкий, Пётр Дубров.
    К сожалению, Николая Тихонова и Андрея Бабкина нет.... ru .
  67. Web site: Flight crew assignments. forum.nasaspaceflight.com.
  68. Web site: Роскосмос подтвердил подписание контракта на доставку астронавта NASA на корабле "Союз". ТАСС.
  69. Web site: JAXA星出彰彦宇宙飛行士の国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）長期滞在 搭乗機決定について. ja. July 28, 2020. September 7, 2020.
  70. Web site: York. Joanna. 2021-03-19. French astronaut next International Space Station commander. 2021-04-21. connexionfrance.com.
  71. Web site: Soyuz MS-19 to send a "movie crew" to ISS. 2021-10-04. russianspaceweb.com.
  72. Web site: NASA assigns astronauts for third SpaceX commercial crew mission. SpaceNews. 14 December 2020. 12 November 2021.
  73. Web site: NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Record-Setting US Astronaut Return. 24 March 2022.
  74. Web site: Commanding role for ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. ESA. 28 May 2021. 12 November 2021.
  75. Web site: Foust . Jeff . 2024-09-13 . Starliner astronauts adjust to long-term ISS stay . 2024-09-15 . SpaceNews . en-US.
  76. Including dual-national Michael Foale

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