NASA astronaut Johnny Kim, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky, prepares to leave the International Space Station on the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft and return to Earth.
Kim, Ryzhikov and Zubritsky will undock from the Prichal station module at 20:41 EST on Monday, December 8, and will be heading for a parachute landing at 12:04 on Tuesday, December 9 (10:04 local time in Kazakhstan), in the Kazakh steppe, southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan.
Watch NASA's live broadcast of the crew's return NASA+, Amazon Primeand agency YouTube channel. Find out how broadcast NASA content through various online platforms, including social networks.
The space station change of command ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 7. NASA+ and agencies YouTube channel. Rykhikov will hand over command of the station to NASA astronaut Mike Finke for Expedition 74, which will begin when the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft undocking.
Kim and his crewmates are completing a 245-day mission aboard the station. At the end of their mission, they will orbit the Earth 3,920 times and cover nearly 104 million miles. For Kim and Zubritsky this was the first flight to the orbital laboratory, and Ryzhikov is completing his third flight into space.
After landing, three crew members will fly by helicopter to Karaganda (Kazakhstan), where rescue teams are based. Kim will board a NASA plane back to Houston, while Ryzhikov and Zubritsky will head to their training base at Star City in Russia.
NASA's coverage area is as follows (all times are Eastern Time and may vary depending on real-time operations):
Sunday, December 7:
10:30 – Expedition 73/74 change of command ceremony begins. NASA+ Amazon PrimeAnd YouTube.
Monday, December 8:
16:45 – Beginning of saying goodbye and closing the hatch. NASA+, Amazon PrimeAnd YouTube.
17:10 – Closing the hatch.
20:15 – Undocking of lighting objects is enabled. NASA+, Amazon PrimeAnd YouTube.
20:41 – Undocking
22:30 – Deorbiting and landing begins. NASA+, Amazon PrimeAnd YouTube.
23:10 – Descent from orbit.
Tuesday, December 9:
12:04 – Landing.
For more than 25 years, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, developing scientific knowledge and making research breakthroughs that would not be possible on Earth. The station is a critical test site for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and expand commercial capabilities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations within a secure low-orbit economyNASA is focusing its resources on deep space missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis Campaign in preparation for future human missions to Mars.
Learn more about the exploration and operation of the International Space Station:
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Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected] / [email protected]
Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected] / [email protected]
