14 DAY TRIAL // Three astronauts from Expedition 27 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will undock their Soyuz space capsule from the orbital lab today. They are scheduled to return to Earth on the evening of May 23, after having spent nearly 6 months aboard the station.
The trio arrived at the facility in December, but they now need to make room for another group of three astronauts. The latter's arrival will mark the de facto beginning of Expedition 28.
The Commander of Expedition 27, Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, will return home accompanied by NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, of the European Space Agency (ESA).
According to Russian Mission Control, the three are scheduled to touch down tonight at 10:26 pm EDT (0226 Tuesday GMT), on the steppes of Kazakhstan. Russian-built Soyuz space capsules take off and land from and in the Central Asian nation.
The Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) operates the Baikonur Cosmodrome here, which is the equivalent of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in the United States.
Before the astronauts leave, it's customary to hold a ceremony during which the command of the ISS is handed over to the next Commander in line. Kondratyev did so on Sunday, May 23. Fellow RosCosmos cosmonaut Andrey Borisenk will be Commander of Expedition 28.
“I think we've done a lot of great science, and certainly I think the space station is in a really good state for the future,” Coleman said at the ceremony. The six astronauts that man the ISS are now joined in orbit by the six-member crew of space shuttle Endeavour.
The orbiter, currently carrying out its last mission ever, will spend a total of 16 days docked to the ISS. It is scheduled to depart on May 29, and to return to Earth on June 1, Space reports.
Endeavour will depart before the three remaining members of Expedition 28 can make their way to orbit. That flight is scheduled to take place on June 7, and will be conducted using the Soyuz TMA-21M space capsule.
The flight will deliver RosCosmos' cosmonaut Sergei Volko, NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, and first-time astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
The three astronauts departing today will undock their Soyuz from the ISS at 5:35 pm EDT (2135 GMT), and will then conduct a 15-minute-long photo shoot. During this time, Nespoli will image the station and Endeavour.
The deorbit burn that marks the beginning of the descent will start at 9:36 pm EDT (0136 GMT Tuesday).