Three astronauts are going to be leaving the International Space Station and are scheduled to land on Earth tonight. The returning crew will consist of Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Kate Rubins of NASA. The trio will be ferried by the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft, the same vessel that transported them to the space outpost on July 9, 2016.
Preparations for the departure have begun this week with the crew inspecting the vehicle's system and checking for leaks to make sure the spacecraft is primed and ready. Descent maneuvers have also been carried out, which will be repeated from the actual undocking all the way to the final landing stages. The exiting astronauts will leave behind three fellow crew members who will stay in the ISS until February 2017.
International Space Station's Command Given To NASA Astronaut
Last Friday, Ivanishin officially handed over the directives of the International Space Station to NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough following a change of command ceremony. The new officer in command will begin his leadership once the Soyuz MS-01 will detach itself from the space station. It will do so via the Rassvet module at approximately 00:35 GMT on October 30.
The trio has been on board the orbital outpost for four months during which they help conduct hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. It was also during this period that Rubins carried out two spacewalks and was the first person ever to sequence DNA in space. The astronaut admitted that she wasn't sure if the sequencing would work but is glad that the experiment was a success, Space Flight Insider reported.
International Space Station Will Receive New Crew In November
After detachment from the space station, the Soyuz MS-01 will stay in orbit for two and a half hours. Following that, it will begin maneuvers that will start the descent back on the planet's surface. Once it enters Earth's atmosphere two of the three modules will jettison off the vehicle leaving the Descent Module that will take the crew through the rest of the journey.
The module's acceleration will reach a burning 514 miles per hour during the fall. Four parachutes will engage behind the spacecraft to considerably slow the descent and six engines will ignite seconds before touchdown to slow it further still, the Verge reported. The remaining crew above the International Space Station will retain its number until November 17 where three astronauts will lift off from Earth to join the temporarily downsized team.
