Expedition 72

Expedition 72 was an International Space Station increment that began on September 23, 2024, after Soyuz MS-25 undocked and Expedition 71 ended. NASA's official Expedition 72 crew page lists Suni Williams as commander, with Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, Don Pettit, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, and Aleksandr Gorbunov serving as flight engineers. The increment combined long-duration ISS operations with an unusual crew-return plan after Williams and Wilmore, who had arrived on Boeing's Starliner test flight, were assigned to return on SpaceX Crew-9. The expedition supported station research, maintenance, visiting vehicle operations, and three EVAs documented by NASA: a Russian-segment spacewalk by Ovchinin and Vagner in December 2024, a U.S. spacewalk by Hague and Williams in January 2025, and a second U.S. spacewalk by Williams and Wilmore later that month. Crew-9 returned Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore in March 2025, while Crew-10 and Soyuz MS-27 arrived during the transition toward Expedition 73. Expedition 72 concluded on April 19, 2025, when Soyuz MS-26 undocked and command passed into the next station increment.