Today is homecoming day for International Space Station Expedition 44 Commander Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos and visiting crew members Andreas Mogensen of ESA (European Space Agency) and Aidyn Aimbetov of the Kazakh Space Agency. They are preparing to return to Earth in the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft at 8:51 p.m. EDT, southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
At this time, the crew’s return is on track, and the space station teams are not working any issues. The Soyuz hatch is scheduled to be closed at 2 p.m. EDT.
Padalka handed over command of the orbiting laboratory to NASA astronaut Scott Kelly in a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 5. Expedition 45 formally begins when the Soyuz undocks.
NASA Television coverage times for Soyuz activities are listed below. These activities also will stream online at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
Here is a timeline of the Expedition 44 undocking and landing.
EDT EVENT
1:45 p.m. NASA TV: Expedition 44 farewell & hatch closure coverage
2:00 p.m. Soyuz TMA-16M/space station hatch closure
5:00 p.m. NASA TV: Expedition 44 Soyuz TMA-16M undocking coverage
5:27 p.m. Soyuz undock command sent
5:29 p.m. Soyuz TMA-16M undocks from space station
5:32 p.m. Soyuz manual separation burn
7:30 p.m. NASA TV: Expedition 44 Soyuz TMA-16M deorbit burn and landing coverage
7:59 p.m. Soyuz TMA-16M deorbit burn (4 minutes, 42 seconds duration)
8:26 p.m. Soyuz module separation (altitude 87 miles)
8:28 p.m. Soyuz atmospheric entry (altitude 62 miles)
8:37 p.m. Command to open parachute (6.7 miles)
8:51 p.m. Expedition 44 Soyuz TMA-16M landing southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan
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