Key Takeaways
- The crew undocked from the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-27 at 8:41 p.m. EST on Monday.
- Landing is scheduled for 12:03 a.m. EST Tuesday on the steppe of Kazakhstan.
- The trio orbited Earth 3,920 times and traveled nearly 104 million miles.
- This was the first spaceflight for Jonny Kim and Alexey Zubritsky; Sergey Ryzhikov completed his third.
- Cosmonauts performed two spacewalks and tested a suit designed to counteract fluid shifts in microgravity.
- Kim delivered a moving farewell message, emphasizing love and teamwork as the heart of space exploration.
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, has departed the International Space Station after a 245-day mission that combined scientific research, spacewalks, technology testing, and international cooperation. The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft undocked from the ISS’s Prichal module at 8:41 p.m. EST, beginning the crew’s journey back to Earth.
Their landing is planned for the early hours of Tuesday morning on the grasslands of Kazakhstan, southeast of Dzhezkazgan, a familiar touchdown site for Soyuz missions. Recovery teams will meet the capsule shortly after its parachute-assisted descent.
During their mission, the trio circled Earth nearly 4,000 times, covering close to 104 million miles. For Kim and Zubritsky, this marked their first spaceflight, while Ryzhikov logged his third long-duration stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The crew supported a wide range of experiments. Kim worked extensively on maintenance and scientific operations in the station’s U.S. segment. Ryzhikov and Zubritsky conducted two spacewalks and tested a prototype suit aimed at counteracting the fluid shifts that astronauts experience in microgravity. This research could help reduce pressure on the head and eyes during long missions and ease the transition back to life on Earth.
Before departure, Ryzhikov officially handed station command to NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, beginning Expedition 74. During the ceremony, Jonny Kim shared a heartfelt message about the human spirit that fuels space exploration. “I firmly believe that the greatest quality of an astronaut, and a human, is not technical competence, or loyalty,” Kim said. “It’s love. We always gave each other grace and had so much love for each other and everyone who supports us. I think that is what makes space exploration possible.”
Kim’s journey to the ISS is remarkable even by NASA standards. He is a former Navy SEAL, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, and one of the few individuals in NASA history to serve as both aviator and flight surgeon.
After landing, Kim will travel to Houston for post-flight evaluations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Ryzhikov and Zubritsky will return to Star City near Moscow. The remaining seven crew members on the ISS will continue research operations, including work in biology, physics, Earth science, and technology development.