Space Station Crew Returns to Earth after 163 Days

Soyuz TMA17 fires breaking rockets prior to landing. (NASA)

A trio of crew members who spent six months living in space returned back to earth tonight just hours after undocking from the International Space Station.

Beautiful blue skies and 65 degrees greeted the returning crew at it's landing site in the isolated region in northern Kazakhstan.

Expedition 23 commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi landed their Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft on target tonight at 11:25 pm EDT (9:25 am Wednesday Kazakhstan time).

"It was really a success mission for us. I really appreciate all my crew members who helped me," outgoing station commander Kotov stated on Monday during a brief change of command ceremony. "And, Alexander, I give up command of this station."

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Earlier they officially closed their hatch at 4:54 pm EDT which led to the vestibule. The crew then begin a series of leak checks inside the Soyuz.

Then with Kotov at the Soyuz controls, the spacecraft undocked from the Russian Zevezda module at 8:04 pm to begin the journey home.

The Soyuz then made one and one-half revolutions of the earth prior to it's deorbit burn at 10:34 pm, which slowed the spacecraft down by 258 mph to drop out of an orbit of 220 miles up.

The Soyuz then began feeling the first effects of the earth's atmosphere 32 minutes later at an altitude of 62 miles high. The tug of gravity began to also overwhelm the spacecraft, the first moments of gravity the three men have felt in 163 days.

Several Parachutes then deployed minutes before landing, followed by several breaking rockets which fired seconds before touchdown slowing the craft's speed down to 21 mph and a soft landing (above).

The two astronauts and one cosmonaut launched 163 days ago from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 20, and docked two days later with the Russian Zarya segment of the station.

The crew were then slowly removed from the Soyuz and placed in recliner chairs, first Kotov then Noguchi and then Creamer. Noguchi enjoyed a green apple minutes later and was able to place a satellite phone call to his wife located back in south Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center.

Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov and flight engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko will stay alone on the station for the next two weeks. A new crew of three -- Shannon Walker and Doug Wheelock from NASA and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin -- will then embark on their six month voyage aboard the space station with their launch from Baikonor on June 16.

Creamer and Noguchi will spend much of Wednesday traveling back to America, expected to land at Ellington Field at 11:00 pm Houston time on that evening.

Russian Resupply Craft Docks with Space Station

Progress 37 moves in for Docking to Station Today. (NASA)

A Russian cargo craft filled to the top with supplies was docked successfully today by the commander of the International Space Station after an automatic system failed on it's approach.

As the Progress M-05M spacecraft begin it's rendezvous sequence, the Kurs automated rendezvous system failed at a range of 3,280 feet from it's docking port.

The system failure forced the station's commander Oleg Kotov to take over and manually bring the 24-foot craft in the rest of the way.

According to the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control, "The Kurs shut down and defaulted to the TORU system after the craft failed to recognize its attitude orientation through its sensors following one of its thruster firings to fine-tune its path to the station".

Progress was docked at 2:30 pm EDT (18:30 GMT) to the Piers docking port as the two spacecraft orbited 220 miles over the Kazakh border of southern Russia.

On board Progress are 2.6 tonnes of supplies for the current Expedition 23 crew and for the upcoming 24 crew.

The international crew of six includes Kotov and flight engineers T.J. Creamer, Soichi Noguchi, Mikhail Kornienko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Alexander Skvortsov.

A few of the supplies carried inside the cargo craft is 117 pounds of equipment for the Mini Research Module 2; a water supply system which is 161 pounds; food and food containers equal 717 pounds; and medical equipment plus personal hygien weighed in at 342 pounds, according to the Russian Space Agency.

The unmanned spacecraft was launch on Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in western Kazakhstan.

The craft's arrival increases the number of Russian spacecraft docked to the station to four -- two Soyuz TMA's and two Progress.

The older, trash filled Progress 36 is scheduled to undock from earth's orbital outpost on May 10.

Six days later, the space shuttle Atlantis will move in and dock to begin eight days of work, including three spacewalks.

Space Station Resupply Craft Prepares for Launch

Russia's Soyuz U Prepares for Launch. (Yuznhy Space Center)

A Russian cargo spacecraft will journey into earth orbit on Wednesday carrying supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

A Soyuz U rocket with the Progress M-05M (37) resupply craft is set to launch at 1:15 pm EDT (1715 GMT) on Wednesday, from Pad 1 at the Baikonour Cosmosdrome in Kazakhstan.

The two-stage Soyuz U rocket stands a few inches above 167-feet tall at launch. It's twenty core stage engines and eight smaller stabilizer engines provide much of the thrust during the first few minutes of flight.

This will be the thirty-seventh Progress to ferry supplies to the space station. The Progress is scheduled to dock to the Pirs Docking Compartment on Saturday afternoon.

The unmanned cargo ship will carry 110 pounds of air and oxygen; 220 pounds of water; 1,918 pounds of propellant; and 3,031 pounds of experiment hardware and spare parts for the station's six person crew.

Hours after docking, the six-member station crew will open the hatches to Progress and begin unstowing the supplies.

The current Expedition 23 crew includes Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer, Soichi Noguchi, Mikhail Kornienko, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Alexander Skvortsov.

The nearly 24-foot Progress uses two solar arrays to power the vehicle's time in space. Nine minutes after launch, the craft begins to deploy the arrays and a high gain antenna.

On April 22, the trash-filled older Progress M03-M (35) undocked from station to make room for the new craft's arrival. Mission control in Moscow will fire its deorbit thrusters today for three minutes at 2:05 pm EDT (10:05 pm Moscow) to send it toward a reentry where it will burn up.

During the craft's recent solo flight, a program test known as the Radar-Progress technical experiment was performed.

"The experiment is aimed at defining density, sizes and reflectivity of the ionosphere environment around the vehicle, which is caused by operations of the Progress` liquid propellant engines," Russian Space Agency public affairs told this reporter in a recent message.

Fragments of the craft are expected to splashdown at just before 3 PM EDT over the southern Pacific Ocean in a region located at 42 degrees south by 141 degrees west.

The next Progress launch is to take place in two months on June 28.

Soyuz Crew Docks with Space Station

A Russian space taxi arrived at the International Space Station on Easter Sunday with three fresh crew members and expanding the crew compliment to six aboard earth's orbital outpost.

"We all are believers. Easter is a great holiday. Our launch (took) place on the Holy Friday, and we will dock to the station on the Easter Day. We are proud of it”, Soyuz TMA-18 commander Alexander Skvortsov addressed a few days ago prior to their launch..

A Soyuz TMA18 spacecraft inched it's way to the Russian Poisk docking module, and at 1:25 am EDT (0525 GMT) today successfully docked as the complex flew 222 miles high above northern Kazakhstan.

Soyuz crew members -- Russian cosmonauts Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko along with American astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson -- will join the current Expedition 23 crew of Russian station commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer of America and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Space Agency.

Kotev, Creamer and Noguchi arrived aboard the outpost 102 days ago on December 23, and are scheduled to depart on June 2, fifteen days before a Soyuz TMA19 craft launches a new crew of three.

After nearly two hours of post docking hard mate checks and hatch presurization leak checks, the doors between the two crafts were opened at 3:19 am as the station flew 216 miles above an area west of New Guinea.

The newly expanded Expedition 23 crew will head to bed at 12:30 pm today to begin their eight hour sleep period.

Today's docking begins a beehive of activity aboard the space station as the new crew of six now focus on preparing for the arrival of space shuttle Discovery in four days.

Discovery is set to dock with station on Wednesday morning following her launch from the Kennedy Space Center at 6:21:22 am EDT on Monday.

Once Discovery's crew of seven berths to the complex, thirteen humans will work and live aboard station for nine days. It will mark the final time for many years that that many people will be aboard at any given time.

It will also mark the first time in space history that four women will fly in space at one time. Discovery's crew includes three women and they will join Caldwell Dyson as three American and one Japanese females to occupy the same spacecraft.

Soyuz FG Rocket Launches New Station Crew

A Soyuz rocket carried one American and two Russians into the blue skies of Kazakhstan and into orbit today

Nine minutes after launch the crew settled into an initial orbit of 143 x 118 miles, began deploying a high gain antenna and two solar arrays.

Russian Soyuz to Launch New Station Crew Friday

Soyuz FG rocket stands tall in Kazakhstan. (Energia)

Three new crew members will lift-off on Friday from the deserts of Kazakhstan to begin a six month excursion aboard the International Space Station.

Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko, and American Tracy Caldwell Dyson are scheduled to lift-off aboard a Soyuz FG from Pad 1 at the Baikonour Cosmodrome on April 2 at 8:04:34 am Moscow time, or 12:04 am EDT (0404 GMT).

The space trio will take their Soyuz TMA 18 spacecraft into a lower orbit than that of the space station as it works to catch up with the complex in a quick manner.

The space taxi will arrive in a slow approach to station early Sunday morning and dock. A few hours later, the hatches between the two crafts will open and the Soyuz crew will become the final half of the Expedition 23 crew.

Docking should take place on April 4 at 1:26 am EDT, with the hatch opening ceremony to follow two hours later.

Soyuz commander Alexander Skvortsov spoke of his job duties during a recent news conference, "The tasks are maintaining the station, receiving and transferring the cargo that is delivered on cargo vehicles, and I think one of the most important tasks that our crew members will have is promoting scientific research in space, a human spaceflight program, because I believe that humanity as a whole should strive to achieve loftier goals and try to expand the horizons."

Friday morning's launch of a Soyuz will begin a bee hive of activity around the orbital complex during the month of April.

Days after the Soyuz docking on Sunday, the space shuttle Discovery is set to dock with the station three days later. And, in the final days of the month a Russian Progress cargo ship is scheduled to dock with a wealth of supplies and food for the crew of six.

"There’s going to be a number of vehicles visiting us from as large as the shuttle to as small as the Progress", veteran shuttle astronaut Caldwell-Dyson discussed recently. "We’ll see another crew come up, we’ll see a crew leave, we’ll see a crew come up during the time frame that I’ll be (on station)".

As the new crew members settle aboard the orbital outpost, there will be alot to take in as they settle into their new home in space.

"We will try to understand the activities on the station as soon as possible in order for us to help Oleg and Soichi and T.J. This will be our primary task," rookie space flyer Kornienko discussed days ago. "Of course, it’s impossible to tell how we will feel in our first days on the station. It’s individual to every every human being, but I don’t think we’ll have any problems and we will start working with the station crew from the start and start helping them and working together with them".

Skvortsov, who will become the commander the Expedition 24 crew in May, spoke on the resposibility of the title station commander, "This is a huge responsibility when you realize that you’ve become the commander of something that was built before you got on board and it is your responsibility and your duty to preserve it for next crews -- it’s a added responsibility. As a professional I believe, as a cosmonaut who trained for spaceflight for such a long time together with his crew members, I can say that we’re all ready for this flight, but you always feel this responsibility. You try to do the best you can, and make sure that your best is not something that is bad".

The crew will perform a few spacewalks and receive unmanned cargo ships from Russia, America and Japan, in addition to a few space shuttle visits during the spring - summer months on earth.

Space Station Residents Prepare for Return to Earth

Williams floats in the scenic Cupola module. (NASA)

The crew aboard the International Space Station are preparing today to begin a crew rotation which will see the departure of two and the arrival of three new residents.

Expedition 22 station commander Jeffery Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev are finalizing the loading of their Russian Soyuz-TMA 16 spacecraft for the return trip home to earth following 175 days in space.

Soyuz undocking is planned for Thursday morning at 4:03 am EDT (0703 GMT). The two will then return upon the deserts central Asia later that morning at 7:24 am.

The duo launched on September 30th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and docked to station two days later.

Following the Soyuz undocking, three crew members will be left aboard to become the core for the new Expedition 23 crew, led by new commander Oleg Kotov. Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi and NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer will round out the crew.

An official commander to commander handover is set for Wednesday morning at 7:45 am.

The trio will not be alone for long as new residents launch to earth's orbital outpost in April to begin their six month journey aboard station.

Alexander Skvortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko are set to lift-off aboard their Soyuz TMA18 spacecraft from Baikonur on April 2 at 12:04 am EDT (0404 GMT).

The Soyuz is scheduled to dock on April 4 at 12:28 am (0428 GMT), with hatch opening three hours later.

Three days later, seven guests will show up as the space shuttle Discovery returns to begin eight days of docked operations to resupply the space station.

In addition to fresh food, water, oxygen and personal supplies, Discovery will add a new ammonia tank and supply racks aboard station.

Russian Soyuz to carry new crew to Station

The two-man crew of the International Space Station will receive three new crew mates in a few days as a Russian Space Agency Soyuz rocket prepares for launch on Sunday.

American Jeffery Williams and Russian Maxim Suraev have been alone 222 miles above earth aboard the station for the last few weeks, and they are looking forward to the Soyuz's arrival on Tuesday.

American astronaut T.J. Creamer, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi will begin a six month voyage upon the vast ocean of space as members of both the station's Expedition 22 and 23 crews.

The Soyuz FG rocket (above, on Dec. 18) with the Soyuz TMA 17 spacecraft will lift-off on Sunday at 4:52 pm EST, (2152 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

After a two day orbital chase to catch up with the space station, the TMA 17 will slowly move in and dock with the PIERS segment at 5:54 pmEST (22:54 GMT) on Tuesday.

Included with the international crew of three will be fresh supplies such as food, water, experiments, and small hardware in support of station operations.

Between now and February, the orbital outpost will see a lot of activity as the Soyuz docks; an unmanned Russian Progress 36P cargo ship docks on Feb. 5; and the space shuttle Endeavour arrives on Feb. 9 with the massive Tranquility module and the Cupola section.

SpaceLaunchNews.com will carry the launch LIVE beginning at 4PM EST (2100 GMT) on Sunday. Follow us via Twitter via @spacelaunchnews.