Space Station Expedition 68 Embroidered Mission Patch

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (IT) flew on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, on its fourth crewed operational flight called Crew-4, launched in April 2022. She flew with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins and Robert Hines.

Expedition 68 began with the departure of Soyuz MS-21 on 22 September 2022. Samantha Cristoforetti took over as ISS commander. Initially, the expedition consisted of Cristoforetti and her three Crew-4 as well as cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and US astronaut Francisco Rubio, who launched aboard Soyuz MS-22 on 21 September 2022 and were transferred from Expedition 67 alongside the Crew-4 astronauts. Crew-4 departed from the Space Station in 13 October.

The Expedition 68 patch features seven sparkling stars in the vastness of space, representing crew members and experts on the ground. Bright sunbeams illuminate the Station, a platform for scientific research, Earth and astronomical observation, education, as well as development of new technologies necessary for the exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, on the Moon and Mars.