Yesterday, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov handed over the commander’s key to the International Space Station to Michael “Mike” Fincke of NASA during the change of command ceremony. Surrounded by his Expedition 73 colleagues just as he was in August of this year when he took over command from Takuya Onishi, Ryzhikov spoke highly of his crewmates, whom he referend to as friends. During his command two Russian spacewalks took place as well as the capture of the HTV-X1 spacecraft. As reported when he assumed command of the ISS, this was Ryzhikov’s second time serving as ISS commander having previously served during Expedition 64.
It’s quite rare to serve as commander of the International Space Station as it’s reserved for experienced astronauts who have already completed a long-duration mission. It’s even more rare to serve twice so when Mike Fincke was handed the key from Ryzhikov he joined an elite corps of astronauts who have served as ISS commander twice. Fincke last served as commander during Expedition 18 from October 2008 – April 2009. During his first commandership there was a debris incident in which debris from a Delta II rocket passed too close for comfort to the ISS causing the crew to “take cover” in their Soyuz spacecraft and close the hatches in case of an evacuation. Luckily, the debris did not hit the station and operations resumed normally, but during emergencies like these it is when it’s the commander’s role to ensure safety and operations of the entire crew.
After handing over the key, Fincke thanked Ryzhikov and his Soyuz MS-27 crew for the work they did during Expedition 73. Speaking on the anniversary of Gemini 7, Fincke gave Ryzhikov a 600 day flight suit patch, Ryzhikov returned the gesture by giving Fincke a homemade crown. Fincke will serve as commander of the ISS until late February, where he will hand over command to an unidentified cosmonaut, though most likely, due to experience, it will be Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.