ISS Expedition 23 Crew Returns to Earth

Yesterday evening (June 1), a Soyuz spacecraft landed in central Asia, carrying three members of Expedition 23 to the International Space Station (ISS). The former Commander and two flight engineers were delivered safely to Kazakhstan aboard the Russian-built capsule, and their departure from the station marks the beginning of Expedition 24. The Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft touched down at about 9:25 am Wednesday local time (11:25 am EDT, 0325 Wednesday GMT), Space reports.

The capsule was carrying Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) cosmonaut and former Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov, who was joined by flight engineers T.J. Creamer, from NASA, and Soichi Noguch, an astronaut from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). All of them completed six-month stays on the orbital facilities, where they handled shuttle visits, autonomous docking procedures by resupply ships, installation of new modules, as well as major repair work. Their mission was not an easy one, but the crew managed to handle it beautifully, representatives of their respective space agencies say.

The space capsule carrying the three separated from the ISS at 8:04 pm EDT (0004 Wednesday GMT), when the two were flying above Mongolia, at an altitude of about 346 kilometers, or 215 miles. According to the astronauts, the undocking procedure went on very smoothly, and the path the Soyuz took allowed for a rather smooth landing. However, rescue crews who arrived at the landing site said that they found the capsule tilted on its side. The astronauts were not hurt when this happened.

Three astronauts now remain aboard the ISS. RosCosmos space fliers Aleksandr Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko are joined by NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson. While the latter two act as flight engineers, the Expedition 24 crew will be commanded by Skvortsov, who received the official post from the departing Kotov during a ceremony on Monday, May 31. An additional three astronauts are scheduled to lift off to the ISS on June 15, to complete the Expedition's crew. Take-off will take place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft. Aboard the capsule will be RosCosmos cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Douglas H. Wheelock. They will all act as flight engineers aboard the station.