NASA Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, Space Station Crewmates Return to Earth

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April 10, 2017

RELEASE 17-041

NASA Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, Space Station Crewmates Return to Earth

Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA is among three crew
members from the International Space Station (ISS) who returned to Earth
Monday, after 173 days in space, landing in Kazakhstan at approximately 7:20
a.m. EDT (5:20 p.m. Kazakhstan time).

Also returning were Flight Engineers Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of
the Russian space agency Roscosmos. The three touched down southeast of the
remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

While living and working aboard the space station, the Expedition 50 crew
members contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology,
physical science and Earth science aboard the world-class orbiting
laboratory. For example, the Microgravity Expanded Stem Cells
investigation had crew members observe cell growth and other characteristics
in microgravity. Results from this investigation could lead to the treatment
of diseases and injury in space, and provide a way to improve stem cell
production for medical therapies on Earth.

The Tissue Regeneration-Bone Defect study, a U.S. National Laboratory
investigation sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
(CASIS) and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, studied
what prevents vertebrates, such as rodents and humans, from regenerating lost
bone and tissue, and how microgravity conditions impact the process. Results
will provide a new understanding of the biological reasons behind a human's
inability to regrow a lost limb at the wound site, and could lead to new
treatment options for the more than 30 percent of the patient population who
do not respond to current options for chronic, non-healing wounds.

During his time on the orbital complex, Kimbrough ventured outside the
confines of the space station for four spacewalks. During the first two in
January, Kimbrough installed adapter plates and hooked up electrical
connections for six new lithium-ion batteries on the space station. The new
lithium-ion batteries and adapter plates replaced nine nickel-hydrogen
batteries used on the station to store electrical energy generated by the
station's solar arrays. Kimbrough also took part in two spacewalks in March,
completing a variety of tasks including work to disconnect and then
setup Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 following its robotic move, install two
upgraded computer relay boxes on the station's truss and install shields
and covers on several external station locations.

The returning crew members also welcomed four cargo spacecraft delivering
several tons of supplies and research experiments. Orbital ATK's Cygnus
spacecraft arrived to the station, shortly after the crew in October,
delivering supplies to the orbiting laboratory. The sixth Japanese H-II
Transfer Vehicle launched to the station in December and delivered new
lithium-ion batteries that were installed during a combination of robotics
and spacewalks. A SpaceX Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft arrived to the
station in February. A Russian ISS Progress cargo spacecraft also docked to
the station in February.

Kimbrough now has spent 189 days in space on two flights. Borisenko now has
337 days in space on two flights. Ryzhikov logged 173 days in space on his
first flight.

Expedition 51 continues operating the station, with NASA astronaut Peggy
Whitson in command. Along with her crewmates Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos
and Thomas Pesquet of ESA (European Space Agency), the three-person crew will
operate the station until the arrival of two new crew members. NASA's Jack
Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch Thursday,
April 20 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Get the latest news, images and features from the station on Instagram and
Twitter:

http://instagram.com/iss

and

http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station

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