Soyuz MS-09 launched from Baikonur Site 1/5 on June 6, 2018 UTC with Roscosmos commander Sergei Prokopyev, ESA flight engineer Alexander Gerst, and NASA flight engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station on June 8, bringing the crew into Expedition 56 and later Expedition 57. Prokopyev, Gerst, and Auñón-Chancellor returned aboard Soyuz MS-09 on December 20, 2018, landing in Kazakhstan after 196 days, 17 hours, and 50 minutes.