Watch Live Saturday: Space Station Crew Returns to Earth

Three crewmembers will depart the International Space Station on Saturday (Sept. 2) and return to Earth. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will return from her record-smashing mission along with her Expedition 52 crewmates, NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. Watch the crew take off in their Soyuz spacecraft and land in Kazakhstan live here at Space.com, or tune in live to NASA TV.

At 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Saturday (Sept. 2), NASA TV will kick off their coverage of the return by broadcasting live coverage of the Soyuz MS-04 crew saying farewell to their Expedition 52/53 crewmates at the space station before they enter the space capsule and close the hatch. At 2:40 p.m. EDT (1840 GMT), they’ll close the hatch and begin preparing for departure. [Space Station Photos: Expedition 52 Crew in Orbit]

The Soyuz will undock from the space station at 5:58 p.m. EDT (1758 GMT), and the crew will start their 3.5-hour descent to Earth. At 8:29 p.m. EDT (0029 GMT on Sept. 3), when the Soyuz is approximately 12 miles away from the space station, its engines will fire for a short deorbit burn. About half an hour later, the crew will enter the atmosphere and the Soyuz will deploy parachutes, which will allow the crew to gently float down to Earth. At 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 GMT on Sept. 3), they’ll touch down in Kazakhstan. 

From NASA:

“Record-breaking NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and her Expedition 52 crewmates are scheduled to depart the International Space Station and return to Earth Saturday, Sept. 2. NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide complete coverage of their departure and landing.

“Whitson, fellow Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of NASA and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos will undock their Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft from the space station at 5:58 p.m. EDT and land in Kazakhstan at 9:22 p.m. (7:22 a.m. Sept. 3, Kazakhstan time).”

“The complete schedule of return coverage is as follows (all times EDT):

• 
  2:15 p.m. – farewell and hatch closure (hatch closure at 2:40 p.m.)


• 
  5:30 p.m. – undocking (undocking at 5:58 p.m.)


• 
  8 p.m. – deorbit burn and landing (deorbit burn at 8:29 p.m. and landing at 9:22 p.m.)


• 
  11 p.m. – replay of hatch closure, undocking and landing activities

“As a result of the impacts of Hurricane Harvey, NASA is reviewing return plans to Houston of Whitson, Fischer and the science samples landing in the Soyuz spacecraft. The crew will participate in standard post-flight medical evaluations.

“While living and working aboard the space station, the Expedition 52 crew pursued hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity’s only orbiting laboratory.

“Whitson is completing a 288-day mission that began in November 2016, spanning 122.2 million miles and 4,623 orbits of Earth – her third long-duration stay on the outpost. At the time of their landing, she will have accrued a total of 665 days in space over the course of her career, more than any American astronaut, placing her eighth on the all-time space endurance list.

“Yurchikhin and Fischer, who launched in April, will complete 136 days in space. Yurchikhin will return to Earth with a total of 673 days in space on his five flights, putting him in seventh place on the all-time endurance list.

“At the time of undocking, Expedition 53 will begin aboard the station under the command of Randy Bresnik. Along with his crewmates Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos and Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), the three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members. Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos, are scheduled to launch Sept. 12 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.”

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