Expedition 63

Expedition 63 was an International Space Station increment commanded by NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. It began on April 17, 2020, after Soyuz MS-15 undocked and left Cassidy, Anatoli Ivanishin, and Ivan Vagner as the station's resident crew. During the increment they supported station operations, cargo vehicles, human research, combustion studies, plant growth, and technology demonstrations while working under the constraints of the early COVID-19 period on Earth. The mission expanded when SpaceX Demo-2 docked on May 31, bringing NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the station and restoring crewed orbital launches from the United States. Cassidy and Behnken completed four spacewalks to finish lithium-ion battery replacement work on the station's power system, while Hurley supported robotics and intravehicular operations. Soyuz MS-17 docked on October 14 with Sergey Ryzhikov, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, and Kate Rubins, creating a final handover period before Cassidy, Ivanishin, and Vagner departed. Expedition 63 ended on October 21, 2020, when Soyuz MS-16 undocked and command passed to Ryzhikov for Expedition 64.