Nasa

Three Expedition 47 members have arrived at the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) onboard a Soyuz TMA-20M spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Following their arrival Nasa astronaut Jeff Williams and his two companions from Russian space agency Roscosmos will continue research that advances Nasa’s Journey to Mars plan.

The new arrivals at the ISS have brought the total number of researchers currently working at the station to six.

Other members at the ISS include Tim Kopra of Nasa, flight engineers Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA), and Yuri Malenchenko of Roscosmos.

All six members of Expedition 47, which is the current and 47th expedition to the ISS, are expecting to spend five months conducting more than 250 science investigations in the fields of biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

The station will receive investigations arriving on Orbital ATK’s fifth Nasa-contracted commercial resupply mission later this month.

The investigations will include a study of realistic fire scenarios on a spacecraft, allowing the first space-based observations of meteors entering Earth’s atmosphere from space, explore how regolith, or soil, behaves and moves in microgravity, test a gecko-inspired adhesive gripping device that can stick on command in the harsh environment of space as well as a new 3-D printer for use on ISS.

"The station will receive investigations arriving on Orbital ATK’s fifth Nasa-contracted commercial resupply mission later this month."

The newly arrived members will also receive the first expandable habitat, Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which will help Nasa to conduct its first test of a new habitat concept that could support astronauts who live and work in the harsh space environment, including travelling to an asteroid, Mars and other destinations.

BEAM will be delivered by SpaceX’s eighth Nasa-contracted cargo resupply mission, which will be launched this year.

Additionally, the ISS crew members will get one Russian Progress resupply mission delivering nearly three tonnes of food, fuel, supplies and research materials.

Since 15 years, humans have been constantly living aboard the ISS to advance scientific knowledge and show new technologies, making research breakthroughs that are not possible on Earth, as well as allow long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space.


Image: Expedition 47 crew members in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.