Russian cosmonaut becomes commander of ISS
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Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopiev has become the new commander of the International Space Station (ISS).
The handover ceremony was broadcast on Wednesday by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti handed over the control of the station to Prokopiev. She has commanded the ISS since 28 September.
Handing over to Prokopyev the symbolic “key to the station,” Cristoforetti said that she could not imagine “a better person to hand over command.” She highly appreciated Prokopiev’s leadership style, and also thanked the international partners for their work.
Sergei Prokopyev thanked the entire crew of the ISS Expedition 67, and wished the Crew-4 astronauts a safe return to Earth.
Cristoforetti spent almost 6 months on the ISS. She will leave the station on Thursday night (Moscow time). She will go to Earth together with the crew of the Crew Dragon-4 spacecraft mission. The ship, carrying NASA astronauts Chell Lindgren, Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins, is scheduled to splash down in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida on Friday.
After the departure of Crew Dragon-4, American astronauts Nicole Mann, Josh Kassada and Francisco Rubio, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, as well as Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev, Dmitry Petelin and Anna Kikina will remain on the ISS after the departure of Crew Dragon-4.
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