14 DAY TRIAL // On Sunday, November 10, three members of the Expedition 37 crew to the International Space Station (ISS), including European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Luca Parmitano, will return to Earth aboard a Russian-built Soyuz space capsule. The team has just concluded a six-month stay in space.
During his tenure on the orbital lab, Parmitano has assisted with the docking of three separate spacecraft and has conducted in excess of 30 scientific experiments. He also participated in two extra-vehicular activities (EVA) outside the facility, fixing issues that plagued the ISS.
Accompanying the ESA astronaut on his trek back to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-09 capsule are mission commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, of the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), and NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg.
As it descends towards the windy steppes of Kazakhstan, the spacecraft will have to decelerate from its current speed of 28,800 kilometers (17,900 miles) per hour to a complete stop in just a little over 3 hours.