Expedition 72 Trio Undocks for Earth Return Aboard Soyuz

Expedition 72 Trio Undocks for Earth Return Aboard Soyuz

The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner departs the International Space Station.
The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner departs the International Space Station.
NASA+

At 5:57 p.m. EDT, the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft undocked from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module with NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

NASA’s live coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and landing will begin at 8 p.m. on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The spacecraft will make a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Soyuz Crewmates Prep for Undocking; Expedition 72 Ends Soon

Soyuz Crewmates Prep for Undocking; Expedition 72 Ends Soon

The Soyuz MS-26 (foreground) and MS-27 crew ships are pictured docked to the International Space Station's Rassvet module and Prichal module, respectively. At right, is the 214 million-year-old Manicouagan crater located in Quebec as the orbital outpost soared 263 miles above far eastern Canada.
iss072e977434 (April 9, 2025) — The Soyuz MS-26 (foreground) and MS-27 crew ships are pictured docked to the International Space Station’s Rassvet module and Prichal module, respectively. At right, is the 214 million-year-old Manicouagan crater located in Quebec as the orbital outpost soared 263 miles above far eastern Canada.
NASA

NASA’s live coverage of undocking is now underway on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

At 2:52 p.m. EDT, hatches between the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and the International Space Station closed in preparation for undocking and return to Earth of NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.

The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA will provide coverage of deorbit burn, entry, and landing at 8 p.m. on NASA+.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Astronaut, Cosmonauts Board Soyuz; Close Hatch for Departure

Astronaut, Cosmonauts Board Soyuz; Close Hatch for Departure

(From left) Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Don Pettit of NASA, and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft for the ride back to Earth.
(From left) Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos, Don Pettit of NASA, and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft for the ride back to Earth.
NASA+

At 2:52 p.m. EDT, the hatch closed between the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking and return to Earth.

NASA will provide live undocking coverage at 5:30 p.m. on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronaut Don Petitt, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m., heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

NASA+ Begins Coverage as Soyuz Trio Preps for Departure

NASA+ Begins Coverage as Soyuz Trio Preps for Departure

Soyuz MS-26 crew members (from left) NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner pose for a portrait at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia.
Soyuz MS-26 crew members (from left) NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner pose for a portrait at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. Credit: GCTC
GCTC/Andrey Shelepin

NASA’s live departure coverage is underway on NASA+. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.

NASA astronaut Don Petitt and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner will close the hatch between the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft and the International Space Station about 2:25 p.m. EDT.

The spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory’s Rassvet module at 5:57 p.m. to begin the journey back to Earth, heading for a parachute-assisted landing at 9:20 p.m. (6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Sunday, April 20) on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

NASA will provide live undocking coverage at 5:30 p.m. on NASA+.

Spanning 220 days in space, Pettit and his crewmates will have orbited the Earth 3,520 times and completed a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft launched and docked to the station on Sept. 11, 2024.

This was Pettit’s fourth spaceflight, where he served as flight engineer for Expedition 71 and 72. He has a career total of 590 days in orbit. Ovchinin completed his fourth flight in space, totaling 595 days, and Vagner has earned an overall total of 416 days in space during two trips to the orbiting laboratory.

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

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Mark A. Garcia

Station Has New Commander; Soyuz Trio Ready for Saturday Departure

Station Has New Commander; Soyuz Trio Ready for Saturday Departure

Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin hands over command of the International Space Station to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi as the rest of the Expedition 72 crew looks on.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (left) hands over command of the International Space Station to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi (right) as the rest of the Expedition 72 crew looks on.
NASA

The International Space Station has a new commander as three Expedition 72 crew members get ready to return to Earth on Saturday. The orbital residents staying behind will soon welcome a U.S. cargo craft and get ready for their increment’s first spacewalk.

Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) took control of the orbital outpost from Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin during a change of command ceremony on Friday afternoon. Onishi will officially lead the new Expedition 73 mission when Ovchinin undocks from the station’s Rassvet module aboard the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner at 5:57 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The Earthbound trio will parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 9:20 p.m. the same day (6:20 a.m. on Sunday, April 20, in Kazakhstan) of Pettit’s 70th birthday. NASA+ will broadcast Saturday’s crew farewell, undocking, and landing activities live beginning at 2 p.m.

Ovchinin and Vagner had one last research session on Friday with assistance from Flight Engineer Kirill Peskov testing the lower body negative pressure suit. The specialized suit from Roscosmos may prevent space-caused head and eye pressure symptoms and help a crew member adjust to Earth’s gravity quicker. Vagner also wrapped up handing over his crew responsibilities to his fellow cosmonauts while Pettit finished cleaning out his crew quarters. Ovchinin will complete packing the Soyuz crew ship with cargo on Saturday before activating the spacecraft’s systems.

A day-and-a-half later, the NASA’s SpaceX 32nd commercial resupply mission will lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying about 6,700 pounds of new science experiments and crew supplies for the Expedition 73 crew. Dragon will launch at 4:15 a.m. EDT on Monday and dock at 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday to the Harmony module’s space-facing port for a month long cargo mission. Onishi and NASA Flight Engineer Jonny Kim will be on duty Tuesday monitoring Dragon’s automated arrival and docking. NASA+ will provide live launch and docking coverage of Dragon’s 32nd cargo mission to the orbiting laboratory.

NASA Flight Engineers Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers are getting ready for the first spacewalk of Expedition 73 planned for May 1. The duo spent Friday organizing the Quest airlock where their spacewalk will begin and checking their spacesuits’ components and systems. Next, the duo verified the suits’ helmets, boots, and arm and leg assemblies fittings. McClain and Ayers will spend six-and-a-half hours in the vacuum of space preparing the station for a new rollout solar array and relocating an antenna that communicates with commercial spacecraft.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky have finished transitioning their new crew responsibilities from their departing crewmates Vagner and Ovchinin. Ryzhikov also spent Friday on life science activities collecting samples of mold and bacteria for analysis while Zubritsky set up and activated Earth observation gear.

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

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Mark A. Garcia