Their responsibility of the Commander on the International Space Station, ISS is defined by the ISS Code of Conduct, which states that the ISS commander has some authority over the operations of the ISS. Ultimately the Commander defers decisions to the Flight Director in Mission Control Center Houston – Andreas Mogensens former place of work, where he served as Capcom.
Right after the announcement on 20 June 2023 Josef Aschbacher tweeted: “The cherry on top of the excellent discussion was that I got to announce that, save any unforeseen changes, @Astro_Andreas is set to serve as Commander of the @Space_Station during Expedition 70.
Having a European Commander on @Space_Station is always a great source of pride for Europe and for myself personally and, moreover, a demonstration of the trust ISS partners put in @ESA, and in the superb quality of its astronauts. Tillykke, @Astro_Andreas.”
The tasks on ISS are divided into Expedition slots of several months each with different scientific and technical tasks. Andreas Mogensen’s Huginn mission is expected to start in Expedition 69, but Expedition 70 will start in September, where there will be a handover of the Commander post.