Pictured from left, are the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship and the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module with the Prichal docking module connected. Credit: NASA
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and 2 Roscosmos cosmonauts are scheduled to end their mission aboard the International Space Station and return to Earth on Wednesday, March 30.
Vande Hei, along with Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, will close the hatch to the Russian Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft to begin the journey back to Earth. The Soyuz will undock from the Rassvet module, heading for a parachute-assisted landing Wednesday, March 30, on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan.
Protection of the teams farewells, undocking, and landing will air survive on NASA TV, the companys website, and the NASA app at the following times (all EDT):.
11:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, March 29– Farewells and hatch closure (at 12 a.m., Wednesday, March 30).
2:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 30– Undocking (at 3:21 a.m.).
6:15 a.m. Wednesday, March 30– Deorbit burn and landing (landing at 7:28 a.m./ 5:28 p.m. Kazakhstan time).
NASA astronaut and Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei postures for a picture on Feb. 10, 2022, while setting up the Combustion Integrated Rack in the U.S. Destiny lab module of the International Space Station to support a pair of fire safety experiments. Credit: NASA.
Vande Hei and Dubrov introduced April 9, 2021, on Soyuz MS-18, and will cover up a 355-day mission spanning 5,680 orbits of Earth and more than 150 million miles. During the long-duration objective, Vande Hei broke the record for longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut, previously held at 340 days. Shkaplerov released on Soyuz MS-19 on October 5, 2021.
In advance of Soyuz departure protection, Shkaplerov will turn over command of the station to NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn during a change of command event. The occasion will air reside on NASA TELEVISION, the NASA app, and the firms website start at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, March 29.
At the time of undocking, Expedition 67 will officially start aboard the station, with new station Commander Marshburn, NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Kayla Barron, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov.
After landing, the Soyuz MS-19 team will split up, based on standard team return practice, with Vande Hei going back to his home in Houston, while the cosmonauts fly back to their training base in Star City, Russia.
Vande Hei and Dubrov released April 9, 2021, on Soyuz MS-18, and will wrap up a 355-day mission spanning 5,680 orbits of Earth and more than 150 million miles. During the long-duration objective, Vande Hei broke the record for longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut, formerly held at 340 days. Vande Hei will wrap up his second spaceflight with a total of 523 days in area. Shkaplerov released on Soyuz MS-19 on October 5, 2021.