page_title: Shane Kimbrough
section_title: Expedition 49/50
hierarchical_section_title: Shane Kimbrough / NASA career / Expedition 49/50
caption_attribution_description: English: EVA from the International Space Station Astronaut Shane Kimbrough taking a picture of the earth and his boots during the March 24, 2017 EVA from the ISS
context_page_description: Robert Shane Kimbrough is a retired United States Army officer, and a NASA astronaut. He was part of the first group of candidates selected for NASA astronaut training following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Kimbrough is a veteran of two spaceflights, the first being a Space Shuttle flight, and the second being a 6-month mission to the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz craft. He was the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 50, and returned to Earth in April 2017. He is married to the former Robbie Lynn Nickels.
context_section_description: Kimbrough launched onboard Soyuz MS-02 to the International Space Station on October 19, 2016, as part of a four-month mission for Expedition 49/50.
  Kimbrough became commander of Expedition 50 upon the departure of Soyuz MS-01 on October 28.
  On January 6, 2017, Kimbrough performed his third EVA, along with Peggy Whitson. During the EVA, they installed three new adapter plates and hooked up electrical connectors preparing the way to replace the ISS batteries. The EVA lasted 6 hours and 32 minutes.
  Kimbrough performed his fourth EVA with astronaut Thomas Pesquet on January 13, 2017. During the EVA, they prepared the infrastructure to replace the ISS batteries. The EVA lasted for 5 hours and 58 minutes.
  On March 23 2017, Kimbrough performed his fifth EVA with Thomas Pesquet. The main objective was to prepare the Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) for installation of the second International Docking Adapter (IDA), which will accommodate commercial crew vehicle dockings. The EVA lasted for 6 hours and 34 minutes.
  On March 30, 2017 Kimbrough performed his  sixth EVA with Peggy Whitson. During the EVA they connected the PMA-3 as well as installing new shields in Node 3 axial shields after losing one shield. Additionally installed another upgraded computer relay boxes on the station's truss. The EVA lasted 7 hours and 4 minutes. During this EVA Whitson became the record holder for the most EVAs for a woman (8 EVAs).
  Kimbrough carried a soccer ball recovered from the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Challenger to the ISS, after which it was returned to the family of Challenger astronaut Ellison Onizuka and put on display at Clear Lake High School in Houston.
caption: Shane Kimbrough during EVA on March 24, 2017
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