Expedition 61 facts for kids
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| Mission duration | 125d 22h 12m |
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| Expedition | |
| Space Station | International Space Station |
| Began | 3 October 2019, 07:37:32 UTC |
| Ended | 6 February 2020, 05:50:28 UTC |
| Arrived aboard | Soyuz MS-12 Soyuz MS-13 Soyuz MS-15 |
| Departed aboard | Soyuz MS-13 |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 6 |
| Members |
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| EVAs | 9 |
| EVA duration | 54h 27m |
 Expedition 61 mission patch  From left: NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, astronaut Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency), Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch. ISS expeditions
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Expedition 61 was the 61st mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It started on October 3, 2019. This happened when the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft left the station.
The mission was led by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano. He was the first Italian and third European to command the ISS. Parmitano, along with Aleksandr Skvortsov and Andrew Morgan, had already been on the station for Expedition 60. Christina Koch also stayed from Expedition 60.
Later, Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir joined the crew. They arrived on September 25, 2019, aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. The mission ended on February 6, 2020.
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Meet the Expedition 61 Crew
The crew of Expedition 61 included six brave astronauts and cosmonauts. They worked together to keep the International Space Station running. They also performed many important science experiments.
| Position | Crew Member |
|---|---|
| Commander |  Luca Parmitano, ESAThis was his second trip to space. |
| Flight Engineer 1 |  Aleksandr Skvortsov, RSAThis was his third trip to space. |
| Flight Engineer 2 |  Andrew Morgan, NASAThis was his first trip to space. |
| Flight Engineer 3 | Christina Koch, NASA This was her first trip to space. |
| Flight Engineer 4 | Oleg Skripochka, RSA This was his third trip to space. |
| Flight Engineer 5 | Jessica Meir, NASA This was her first trip to space. |
Exciting Spacewalks During Expedition 61
The crew of Expedition 61 completed nine spacewalks. A spacewalk is when astronauts leave the space station to work outside. This was the most spacewalks ever done during one ISS mission!
Repairing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
Four of these spacewalks were for a big repair job. They fixed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. This is a special science tool on the ISS. It helps scientists study tiny particles from space.
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan did these repairs. They were helped by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. Koch and Meir controlled the Canadarm2 robotic arm from inside the station. These spacewalks were very difficult. They were compared to the tough repairs done on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Historic All-Female Spacewalk
The crew also did several spacewalks to fix and improve the ISS batteries. On October 18, 2019, something amazing happened. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir performed the first ever all-female spacewalk in history! This was a huge moment for space exploration.
See also
In Spanish: Expedición 61 para niños
