Expedition 61 Crew Enters Soyuz Crew Ship, Says Farewell Before Homecoming

Expedition 61 Crew Enters Soyuz Crew Ship, Says Farewell Before Homecoming

Expedition 61 crewmembers say farewell
Expedition 61 crewmembers (from left) Christina Koch, Luca Parmitano and Alexander Skvortsov say farewell to their International Space Station crewmates.

At 9:34 p.m. EST, the hatch closed between the Soyuz spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking. NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to undock their Soyuz at 12:50 a.m.

NASA Television will air live coverage of the undocking beginning at 12:15 a.m.; their landing in Kazakhstan is targeted for approximately 4:12 a.m.

The Expedition 61 crew members contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development, including improvements to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer in an effort to extend its life and support its mission of looking for evidence of dark matter and testing 3D biological printers to print organ-like tissues in microgravity.

Koch shared her most memorable moments, from her arrival to the space station on March 14, 2019, to her first glimpse of her hometown on Earth from space, to her first spacewalk.

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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NASA TV is Live as Expedition 61 Crew Prepares to Depart Station

NASA TV is Live as Expedition 61 Crew Prepares to Depart Station

NASA astronaut Christina Koch works on a U.S. spacesuit
NASA astronaut Christina Koch works on a U.S. spacesuit that Commander Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) wore during a spacewalk on Dec. 2, 2019.

NASA Television and the agency’s website are now broadcasting live coverage of the International Space Station’s Expedition 61 crew as they are preparing for their return to Earth.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch, Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) are saying their farewells to NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan and Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos before their board their Soyuz spacecraft and close the hatches between them and the space station. Hatches are expected to close at about 9:25 p.m. EST for a series of leak checks before the Soyuz undocks and returns to Earth early Thursday 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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NASA Spotlights Moon to Mars Plans at Feb. 10 ‘State of NASA’ Events

NASA Spotlights Moon to Mars Plans at Feb. 10 ‘State of NASA’ Events

NASA centers across the country are opening their doors Monday, Feb. 10, to media and social media for “State of NASA” events, including a televised program featuring remarks from Rep. Steven Palazzo (MS-4) and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the agency’s mission to go to the Moon, Mars, and worlds beyond.

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NASA TV Broadcasts Return of Christina Koch and Expedition 61 Crewmates

NASA TV Broadcasts Return of Christina Koch and Expedition 61 Crewmates

Luca Parmitano hands over station control to Oleg Skripochka
Expedition 61 Commander Luca Parmitano (front left) handed over control of the station today to Oleg Skripochka (front right). In the back row (from left) are Flight Engineers Christina Koch, Alexander Skvortsov, Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan.

Record-setting astronaut Christina Koch, along with Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos and Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) are preparing to depart the International Space Station just after midnight for their return to Earth early Thursday morning. Earlier today Expedition 61 Commander Parmitano passed control of the station to Oleg Skripochka of Roscosmos.

Tune in to NASA Television and the agency’s website tonight at 9 p.m. EST as Koch, Skvortsov, and Parmitano say farewell and board their Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft in preparation for their undocking and return to Earth.

Koch was a crew member for Expeditions 59, 60 and 61, spending 328 days living and working aboard the International Space Station.

During Koch’s 11-month mission, she participated in more than 210 investigations, helping advance NASA’s goals to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration of Mars. Koch participated in a number of studies to support those future exploration missions, including research into how the human body adjusts to weightlessness, isolation, radiation and the stress of long-duration spaceflight.

Learn more in Koch’s space station science scrapbook and her station science video.

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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