Expedition 26 Crew Aboard Orbiting Laboratory

Expedition 26 crew members are pictured in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.

Commander Scott Kelly leads the Expedition 26 crew members aboard the International Space Station, as they continue microgravity experiments in human research, biology and biotechnology, physical and materials sciences, technology development, and Earth and space sciences.

Kelly and Flight Engineers Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka have been living aboard the orbiting complex since Oct. 9. Three additional flight engineers -- Dmitry Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli -- docked the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft to the Rassvet mini-research module on Dec. 17 to begin a five-month stay aboard the station.

The six-person Expedition 26 crew will spend approximately three months together before Kelly hands over command of the station to Kondratyev. Kelly, Kaleri and Skripochka will then undock their Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft and head for a landing in Kazakhstan in mid-March.

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