Expedition 73 has ended and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim has returned to Houston and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky have returned to Moscow. Expedition 74 is now underway with veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fincke as commander.
At 12:03 a.m. EST (10:03 a.m. local time), the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.
The Soyuz spacecraft, with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky aboard, will make a parachute-assisted landing at 12:03 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Dec. 9 (10:03 a.m. local time in Kazakhstan), on the steppe of Kazakhstan
At 8:41 p.m. EST, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory’s Prichal module with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky aboard.
At 5:10 p.m. EST, hatches closed between the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and the return to Earth of NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky.
At 5:10 p.m. EST, the hatch closed between the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky will close the hatch between the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and the International Space Station at 5:10 p.m. EST.
Expedition 73 will swap commanders this weekend before three crew members return to Earth on Monday. Expedition 74 officially begins once the home bound trio undocks from the Rassvet module inside the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft the following day.
Three Expedition 73 crewmates will end their stay aboard the International Space Station when they undock Dec. 8 and return to Earth a few hours later. In the meantime, blood research took precedence on Thursday ensuring astronauts stay healthy while living long-term in weightlessness.
Space biology and physics topped the research schedule aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday to improve human health and the space industry. The Expedition 73 residents also helped three new crewmates adapt to orbital life as another trio turns its attention to returning to Earth next week.
