Three astronauts will return to Earth Wednesday after spending 196 days in space on the International Space Station circling Earth over 3,100 times for a total of just over 83 million miles.
There is currently a six-member space station crew. NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner will board their Soyuz MS-16 crew ship and undock from the space station at 7:32 p.m. ET, soar through Earth’s atmosphere and just over three hours later parachute to a landing in Kazakhstan at 10:55 p.m. ET (Oct. 22, 7:55 a.m. Kazakhstan time).
Chris Cassidy is the current Commander. Before the astronauts leave the space station, there will be a ceremony where Cassidy hands control of the station to cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov of Roscosmos (Russian space agency).
Ryzhikov will officially begin his command on Wednesday when Cassidy and Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner undock from the station at 7:32 p.m. ET inside the Soyuz MS-16 crew ship.
All the activities will be broadcast live on NASA TV. Coverage of crew farewells and hatch closing will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET. Undocking coverage will begin at 7 p.m., and Soyuz deorbit burn and landing coverage will happen at 9:30 p.m.
What other people are reading right now:
- Percent positive jumps to more than 6 percent as Florida adds 3,662 COVID-19 cases
- FBI investigating threatening emails sent to Democrats in Florida
- Here's the full 2020 World Series schedule
- Gov. DeSantis says any future school closures are 'off the table'
- Peanuts holiday specials won't air on TV for 1st time in decades
- What you need to know about the 6 constitutional amendments on Florida ballots
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter
