[5] Media related to Soyuz MS-07 at Wikimedia Commons The Soyuz spacecraft was carrying Scott Tingle of NASA, Anton Shkaplerov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

They have joined Expedition 54 Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos and his crewmates, Mark T. Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA.

Vande Hei, Acaba, and Misurkin are remain aboard the station until February 2018, and Tingle, Shkaplerov, and Kanai have returned to Earth in June 2018.

Highlights of upcoming investigations include the benefits of manufacturing fiber optic filaments in a microgravity environment, a new study looking at structures that are vital to the design of advanced optical materials and electronic devices, and examining a drug compound and drug delivery system designed to combat muscular breakdown in space or during other prolonged periods of disuse, such as extended bed rest on Earth.

For more than 17 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space.