Expedition 53

Expedition 53 was a 2017 International Space Station increment commanded by NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik. It began when Soyuz MS-04 returned Fyodor Yurchikhin, Jack Fischer, and Peggy Whitson to Earth, leaving Bresnik, Sergey Ryazansky, and Paolo Nespoli aboard from the Expedition 52 crew. Soyuz MS-06 then arrived with Aleksandr Misurkin, Mark Vande Hei, and Joseph Acaba, restoring the station to a six-person crew. The increment supported station research, Earth observation, visiting-vehicle activity, robotic-arm maintenance, and U.S. segment spacewalks focused on Canadarm2 latching end effector work and external camera hardware. Expedition 53 ended when Soyuz MS-05 undocked with Ryazansky, Bresnik, and Nespoli, handing command to Misurkin for Expedition 54.