Expedition Trio Leaves Station Begins Return to Earth

Expedition Trio Leaves Station Begins Return to Earth

Expedition 62 crewmates Oleg Skripochka, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan
Expedition 62 Commander and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka poses with NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan perched on his shoulders in the station.

The Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 9:53 p.m. EDT, carrying three people back to Earth. NASA Television will air live coverage beginning at 12 a.m. Friday, April 17, for the deorbit burn at 12:22 a.m. and the spacecraft’s parachute-assisted landing.

NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Oleg Skripochka are expected to land in their Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft at 1:16 a.m. on the steppe of Kazakhstan southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan (11:16 a.m. Kazakhstan time).

Among the research experiments to which the Expedition 62 crew contributed during their mission was the Droplet Formation Study, which evaluates water droplet formation, water flow and, indirectly, the perceived pressure of current shower head technology as compared to the industry-standard use of jet nozzles. The study examines droplet size and speed and how they affect the feeling of increased pressure for the end user. Another experiment to which the crew contributed was Mochii, a miniature scanning electron microscope used to conduct real-time, on-site imaging and composition measurements of particles. Analysis of small and microscopic particles is a critical need for human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit when samples cannot be returned to Earth immediately for analysis.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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Crew Boards Soyuz Crew Ship and Closes Hatches

Crew Boards Soyuz Crew Ship and Closes Hatches

The Expedition 62 crew prepares to enter their Soyuz crew ship
The Expedition 62 crew prepares to enter their Soyuz crew ship after saying farewell to their station crew mates.

At 6:44 p.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Soyuz spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking. NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, are scheduled to undock their Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft at 9:53 p.m.

NASA Television will air live coverage of the undocking beginning at 9:30 p.m.; their landing in Kazakhstan is targeted for approximately 1:16 a.m. Friday.

At the time of undocking, Expedition 63 will begin aboard the station, with Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner comprising a three-person crew until the planned arrival of NASA’s Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon on the Demo-2 flight test.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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Live Now on NASA TV, Station Trio Says Farewell

Live Now on NASA TV, Station Trio Says Farewell

Expedition 62 crewmembers pose for a portrait
Expedition 62 crewmembers (from left) Andrew Morgan, Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir pose for a portrait before their return to Earth.

NASA Television and the agency’s website are now broadcasting live coverage of the International Space Station’s Expedition 62 crew as they are preparing for their return to Earth.

NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos are saying their farewells to NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner. Soon Meir Morgan, and Skripochka will board their Soyuz spacecraft and close the hatches between the Soyuz and the space station. Hatches are expected to close at about 6:30 p.m. EDT for a series of leak checks before the Soyuz undocks and returns to Earth early Friday morning.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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Station Crew Swaps Command, Trio Ready for Earth Return

Station Crew Swaps Command, Trio Ready for Earth Return

The six station crewmembers join each other for a group hug
Clockwise from bottom left are station crewmembers Chris Cassidy, Anatoly Ivanishin, Ivan Vagner, Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir and Oleg Skripochka.

NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are preparing to depart the International Space Station Thursday evening in their Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft and return to Earth.

Today the Expedition 62 crew conducted a change of command ceremony in which Skripochka ceremonially handed command of the orbiting laboratory to newly arrived NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. Expedition 63, a three-person crew of Cassidy and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner, begins when the Soyuz departs the station Thursday.

NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide live coverage beginning at 6 p.m. EDT April 16 as the departing crew members say farewell and close the hatches between their Soyuz and the spacecraft at about 6:30 p.m.

NASA coverage will resume at 9:30 p.m. prior to the trio undocking the Soyuz from the aft port of the station’s Zvezda service module at 9:53 p.m. At midnight, NASA TV will return to provide coverage during the deorbit burn at 12:22 a.m. Friday, April 17, that will put the Soyuz on course for a parachute-assisted landing at 1:16 a.m. (11:16 a.m. Kazakhstan time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan.

Follow along with landing activities and get more information about the mission at: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/. Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Mark Garcia

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