NASA astronaut and ISS chief Mike Fincke handed over command of the station to a Russian cosmonaut ahead of an unprecedented medical evacuation.
By Claire Cameron edited by Clara Moskowitz
Screenshot via NASA YouTube
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Command of the International Space Station (ISS) has changed hands. In a ceremony aboard the station on Monday, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke handed over responsibility for ISS Expedition 74 to Russian cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
Fincke thanked his fellow ISS crew members as he handed over command to Kud-Sverchkov, adding that it had been great serving alongside the Russian cosmonaut before individually thanking each of the other Expedition 74 crew members.
“It’s bittersweet,” Fincke said during the ceremony broadcast livewhich was broadcast from the ISS. Fincke then handed a key to the ISS to Kud-Sverchkov.
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“Despite all the changes and all the difficulties, we are going to do our job on board the ISS, carrying out all the scientific tasks here, the maintenance tasks, whatever happens,” Kud-Sverchkov said before giving his first command: a collective hug.
The exchange came after NASA ordered the evacuation of four astronauts currently aboard the ISS because one of them fell ill; NASA described the unidentified crew member as “stable” but did not release further details about his identity or condition. The starting quartet includes Crew 11: Fincke, fellow NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
Despite one of them causing an unprecedented decision, all seven members of Expedition 74 appeared and spoke on Monday’s show.
Their departure will reduce the number of station occupants to just three: NASA’s Chris Williams and cosmonauts Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, who together make up the Soyuz MS-28 crew.
The departing astronauts are expected to leave the station on Wednesday before crashing off the coast of California later this year. Thursday morning morning local time.
NASA has not released details about what exactly happened aboard the station to prompt the evacuation, but the situation is a first: The agency has never brought an ISS crew back ahead of schedule due to a medical problem Before. Authorities have not revealed which crew member was affected or what problem they encountered.
Monday’s change of command was also atypical: Fincke’s early departure means command of the station goes to the next highest-ranking crew member on board, Kud-Sverchkov. Before the evacuation was ordered, Fincke had planned to hand over leadership of the station to the new commander of Crew 12, Jessica Meir, who, along with the three other members of Crew 12, was expected to arrive at the ISS in February.
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