NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The following times are approximate. All times are keyed to elapsed time from undocking.

	Undocking minus 0 minutes Landing minus 3 hours, 23 minutes Separation command to begin opening hooks and latches, which hold the Soyuz spacecraft to a docking port on the International Space Station. + Larger image (124 Kb)
	Undocking plus 3 minutes Landing minus 3 hours, 20 minutes Hooks opened. Soyuz begins physical separation from Pirs at 4 inches per second. + Larger image (162 Kb)
	Undocking plus 6 minutes Landing minus 3 hours, 17 minutes A 15-second separation burn when Soyuz is about 66 feet from the Station. + Larger image (129 Kb)
	Undocking plus 2 hours, 29 minutes Landing minus 54 minutes When the Soyuz is at a distance of about 12 miles from the Station, the engines fire for a 4-minute, 21-second deorbit burn. + Larger image (119 Kb)
	Undocking plus 2 hours, 57 minutes Landing minus 26 minutes The unoccupied Orbital Module separates from the Descent Module and burns upon re-entry into the atmosphere. + Larger image (107 Kb)
	Undocking plus 3 hours Landing minus 23 minutes Soyuz reaches Entry Interface -- 400,000 feet in altitude -- 31 minutes after the deorbit burn. + Larger image (112 Kb)
	Undocking plus 3 hours, 8 minutes Landing minus 15 minutes Parachutes are commanded to deploy. Two Pilot Parachutes are deployed, the second of which extracts the Drogue Chute. The Drogue slows the spacecraft's descent from a rate of 755 feet per second to 262 feet per second. + Larger image (146 Kb)
	The Main Parachute is then released. It slows the Soyuz to a descent rate of 24 feet per second. First, its harnesses allow the Soyuz to descend at an angle of 30 degrees to expel heat, then it shifts the Soyuz to a straight vertical descent. + Larger image (147 Kb)
	+ Larger image (186 Kb)
	Landing minus 2 seconds Six Soft Landing Engines fire to slow the vehicle's descent rate to 1.5 meters (5 feet) per second just 2.6 feet above the ground. + Larger image (159 Kb)
	Undocking plus 3 hours, 23 minutes Soyuz lands. + Larger image (165 Kb)

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