# Expedition 72

Expedition 72 is the 72nd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The expedition began with the departure of Soyuz MS-25 on 23 September 2024 with NASA astronaut Sunita Williams taking over the ISS command. It will continue the extensive scientific research conducted aboard the ISS, focusing on various fields, including biology, human physiology, physics, and materials science. The crew members will also maintain and upgrade the space station systems.

## Background, Crew, and Events

The expedition consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, and NASA astronauts Barry E. Wilmore, Sunita Williams, Donald Pettit, and Nick Hague.
Wilmore and Williams arrived at the station on 6 June 2024 for what was expected to be a brief visit as part of the Boeing Crew Flight Test mission. However, their spacecraft experienced technical issues and returned to Earth uncrewed, and Wilmore and Williams were added to the Expedition 71/72 crew.
Ovchinin, Vagner, and Pettit arrived at the station on 11 September aboard Soyuz MS-26. Hague and Gorbunov arrived to the station on 29 September aboard SpaceX Crew-9. After a handover period, SpaceX Crew-8 departed on 23 October.
In March 2025, SpaceX Crew-10 arrived on ISS, transporting NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, along with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, are expected to arrive at the station aboard Soyuz MS-27 in April 2025.
Expedition 72 will come to a close in April 2025 with the departure of Ovchinin, Vagner, and Pettit on Soyuz MS-26.

## Crew

| Flight | Crew member | Increment 72a | Increment 72b | Increment 72c | Increment 72d | Increment 72e | Increment 72f | Increment 72g |
| Flight | Crew member | 23-29 Sep 2024 | 29 Sep-23 Oct 2024 | 23 Oct 2024-7 Mar 2025 | 7-16 Mar 2025 | 16-18 Mar 2025 | 18 Mar-8 Apr 2025 (in progress) | 8 Apr-20 Apr 2025 (planned) |
| Soyuz MS-26 | Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos Third spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Commander | Commander | Commander | Commander |
| Soyuz MS-26 | Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos Second spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| Soyuz MS-26 | Donald Pettit, NASA Fourth spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| SpaceX Crew-8 | Matthew Dominick, NASA First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-8 | Michael Barratt, NASA Third spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-8 | Jeanette Epps, NASA First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-8 | Alexander Grebenkin, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station |
| Boeing Crew Flight Test | Barry E. Wilmore, NASA Third spaceflight | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station |
| Boeing Crew Flight Test | Sunita Williams, NASA Third spaceflight | Commander | Commander | Commander | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-9 | Nick Hague, NASA Second spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-9 | Aleksandr Gorbunov, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Off Station | Off Station |
| SpaceX Crew-10 | Anne McClain, NASA Second spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| SpaceX Crew-10 | Nichole Ayers, NASA First spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| SpaceX Crew-10 | Takuya Onishi, JAXA Second spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| SpaceX Crew-10 | Kirill Peskov, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer | Flight Engineer |
| Soyuz MS-27 (planned) | Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos Third spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer |
| Soyuz MS-27 (planned) | Alexey Zubritsky, Roscosmos First spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer |
| Soyuz MS-27 (planned) | Jonny Kim, NASA First spaceflight | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Off Station | Flight Engineer |