The astronauts of Expedition 61 to International Space Station have had some memorable moments during their long-term stay at the orbiting laboratory, like the first all-woman spacewalk and a new record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
Their male counterparts also tackled some complicated spacewalks to repair the ailing Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment. Click through this Space.com gallery to see more of their adventures in space.
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(Image credit: Victor Zelentsov/NASA)
Expedition 61 crewmembers Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos (left) and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori — the first astronaut for the United Arab Emirates — pose for pictures with their Russian Sokol launch and entry suits ahead of their launch to the International Space Station in the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. The trio launched on Sept. 25, 2019.
The arrival of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft on Sept. 25, 2019 brought the total number of people on board the International Space Station up to nine, compared to the usual six. The overcrowding was only temporary, though, as three crewmembers returned to Earth one week later on Oct. 3, marking the official beginning of Expedition 61.
Pictured here are (clockwise from top left) Christina Koch, Luca Parmitano, Drew Morgan, Alexander Skvortsov, Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir, Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, Nick Hague, and Alexey Ovchinin.
(Image credit: Victor Zelentsov/NASA)
UAE astronaut Hazzaa Ali Almansoori (left), Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir head to their launch onboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft on Sept. 25, 2019, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
(Image credit: Victor Zelentsov/NASA)
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir takes a spin in a rotating chair to test her vestibular system at the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, as part of prelaunch activities on Sept. 18, 2019.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
The Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft is seen in the early morning hours ahead of the scheduled launch with Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir, Oleg Skripochka and Hazzaa Ali Almansoori, on Sept. 25, 2019, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
(Image credit: Bill Ingalls/NASA)
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25, 2019, carrying Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates to the International Space Station.
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25, 2019, carrying Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates to the International Space Station.
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25, 2019, carrying Expedition 61 crewmembers Jessica Meir of NASA and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos, and spaceflight participant Hazzaa Ali Almansoori of the United Arab Emirates to the International Space Station.
The best view of the Soyuz MS-15 launch turned out to be from the spacecraft's destination itself, the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Christina Koch took this photo of the launch through one of the windows of the International Space Station. "What it looks like from @Space_Station when your best friend achieves her lifelong dream to go to space," Koch wrote in a tweet sharing the image, referring to her buddy Jessica Meir.
NASA astronauts and BFFs Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are pictured inside the space station's Cupola observatory practicing the Canadarm2 robotics techniques they would use to capture the Northrop Grumman Cygnus space freighter during its arrival on Nov. 4, 2019.
Three NASA astronauts peer through the windows of the International Space Station's Cupola observatory in this view from one of the station's external cameras. From left: Christina Koch, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan, all flight engineers for Expedition 61, prepare for the arrival of Northrop Grumman's Cygnus NG-12 cargo freighter, which arrived at the orbiting lab on Nov. 4, 2019.
(Image credit: NASA)
The six-member Expedition 61 crew, wearing t-shirts printed with their crew insignia, gathers for a playful portrait inside the International Space Station's Zvezda service module. From left are, flight engineers Andrew Morgan, Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir, Christina Koch and Alexander Skvortsov and Cmdr. Luca Parmitano.
(Image credit: NASA)
Four Expedition 61 crewmembers unpack fresh fruit and other goodies from a stowage bag delivered aboard Japan's HTV-8 cargo craft. From left are: NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Andrew Morgan and Christina Koch, and Expedition 61 Cmdr. Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan (right) took a break from his engineering and science duties aboard the International Space Station to give Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov a haircut on Oct. 13, 2019. A vacuum is attached to the clippers that draws the loose hair in to keep the cabin atmosphere clean.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (left) and Christina Koch (right) are suited up and ready to go on the first all-woman spacewalk posing with their Expedition 61 crewmates. Clockwise from bottom center are ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronauts Christina Koch (right) and Jessica Meir pose with their spacesuits for an October 2019 spacewalk, the first all-woman spacewalk in history.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir of Expedition 61 works on components of the Combustion Integrated Rack aboard the International Space Station's U.S. Destiny laboratory module, on Oct. 24, 2019.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir waters plant pillows where Mizuna mustard greens are raised as part of the Veg-04B experiment. This investigation is part of a phased research project to address the need for a continuous fresh food production system in space and focuses on the effects of light quality and fertilizer on a leafy crop. Taste is assessed by the crew.
Expedition 61 astronauts (clockwise from top left) Christina Koch, Luca Parmitano, Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir pose for a portrait in their Halloween costumes aboard the International Space Station, on Oct. 31, 2019.
(Image credit: NASA)
Astronauts Luca Parmitano (left) and Andrew Morgan review robotics procedures in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module to prepare for a series of spacewalks in which they worked to repair the International Space Station's cosmic particle detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan (left) and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano work inside the Quest airlock checking U.S. spacesuits and spacewalking tools.
(Image credit: NASA)
European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano tests specialized spacewalking tools while wearing U.S. spacesuit gloves. The tools were designed specifically for the complex repair work planned for the International Space Station's cosmic particle detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
(Image credit: NASA)
Astronaut Jessica Meir enjoys some freshly harvested mizuna mustard greens on the International Space Station on Oct. 30, 2019.
Mizuna mustard greens grow aboard the International Space Station to demonstrate the feasibility of space agriculture to provide fresh food for crews on deep space missions.
NASA astronauts (from left) Jessica Meir and Christina Koch harvest a crop of Mizuna mustard greens grown inside the International Space Station's Veggie botany facility located in the Columbus laboratory module.
NASA astronaut Christina Koch collects and packs Mizuna mustard greens grown and harvested inside the International Space Station's Veggie botany facility. A portion of the leaves were consumed by the crew for a taste test while the rest were stowed in a science freezer for analysis on Earth.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir is at the robotics workstation controlling the Canadarm2 robotic arm to support the first spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, the International Space Station's cosmic particle detector.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan works inside Japan's Kibo laboratory module setting up a small satellite deployer loaded with three cubesats developed by the nations of Japan, Rwanda and Egypt. The deployer was placed inside Kibo's airlock before the Japanese robotic arm grappled it and moved it outside Kibo, where it would eject all three cubesats into Earth orbit.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Christina Koch and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka are pictured in the equipment lock portion of the Quest joint airlock. The duo assisted astronauts Andrew Morgan and Luca Parmitano into their U.S. spacesuits and into the crew lock before the spacewalkers began the second spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's thermal control system.
(Image credit: NASA)
Flight Engineers Christina Koch and Oleg Skripochka are pictured assisting spacewalkers Andrew Morgan (left) and Luca Parmitano (right) in the U.S. Quest airlock before they would begin the second spacewalk to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer's thermal control system.
(Image credit: Jessica Meir/Twitter)
Expedition 61 flight engineer Christina Koch poses for a photo aboard the International Space Station dressed as an Apollo flight controller in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 12 second moon-landing mission, on Nov. 14, 2019.
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Drew Morgan and Christina Koch play some baseball on the International Space Station in October 2019 to celebrate the World Series between the Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros.
The Force is definitely strong with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, who played the "Star Wars" theme aboard the International Space Station. Meir used the same piccolo that she once played as a student at Caribou High School in Maine, she explained to the audience on NASA TV while floating near the famous plant-growth experiment on the orbiting complex.
NASA astronauts and Expedition 61 crewmembers Christina Koch and Jessica prepare for their third spacewalk together by braiding their hair. "Spacewalk hair pro tip: Double braid is the way to go—fits snug under the com cap, out of the helmet seal, and no flyaways," Koch tweeted.
(Image credit: Astro_Christina/Twitter)
NASA astronauts and Expedition 61 crewmembers Christina Koch and Jessica prepare for their third spacewalk together by braiding their hair. "Spacewalk hair pro tip: Double braid is the way to go—fits snug under the com cap, out of the helmet seal, and no flyaways," Koch tweeted.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is pictured during the second spacewalk she conducted with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (out of frame) to install new lithium-ion batteries that store and distribute power collected from solar arrays on the station's Port-6 truss structure, on Jan. 15, 2020.
Seen here after completing their spacewalk mission on Jan. 20, 2020, NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir pose with other crewmates inside the International Space Station.
(Image credit: Astro_Christina/Twitter)
Following their mission to swap out batteries for the ISS's power system, astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir pose with two other teammates inside the space station on Jan. 20, 2020.
(Image credit: NASA)
NASA astronaut Christina Koch is pictured inside the Cupola observatory at the International Space Station.
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