Expedition 56 began June 3, 2018, and continued until Oct. 4, 2018. The six person crew — NASA astronauts Drew Feustel, Ricky Arnold and Serena Aunon-Chancellor; Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergei Prokopyev; and European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst — is tasked with performing experiments that study the behavior of atoms in extreme conditions, explore microbial growth aboard the outpost and other tests to expand navigation capabilities for future travel beyond low-Earth orbit.