In Kazakhstan, near the Baikonur Cosmodrome, preparations are underway to meet the descent module of the Soyuz MS-24 manned transport spacecraft with an international space crew on board. Its undocking from the ISS is scheduled for April 6; at the moment of undocking of the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft, the ISS-70 expedition will be completed. The estimated landing time for the expedition is 10:18 AM Moscow time.
In orbit, the Soyuz MS-24 crew is actively preparing to return to Earth. In the Russian segment of the ISS, according to Roscosmos, the cosmonauts checked the sealing mechanisms of the hatch covers between the spacecraft and the Rassvet module, recharged the satellite telephone terminal, took samples from surfaces in the Zarya, Zvezda, Poisk, Rassvet, and Nauka modules, and in Soyuz MS-25, and packed equipment into the spacecraft.
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and the first Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya, who arrived as part of the March visiting expedition EP-21 on the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft, will return to Earth in it. NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara, who has been on the ISS since September 2023, having arrived there as a flight engineer on Soyuz MS-24, will also return with them.
On Earth, the final preparations are already underway for the search and rescue of the crew. Within the main test site in Kazakhstan, three aircraft, eight Mi-8 helicopters, six search and rescue vehicles, and several units of auxiliary equipment from the Russian Ministry of Defense will be waiting for the cosmonauts. Representatives of the medical service of the Central Military District and the search and rescue group of the aviation association of the Russian Aerospace Forces will also be working at the landing site from the Ministry of Defense.
As explained by Rosaviatsiya, search and rescue forces and equipment are being prepared "to ensure the search for the descent vehicle, provide medical assistance, and evacuate the cosmonauts in all calculated landing options, both according to the controlled and ballistic descent schemes."
In addition to specialists from Rosaviatsiya and the Ministry of Defense, specialists from RSC Energia (as developers and manufacturers of the spacecraft), the Yu.A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, the Federal Medical-Biological Agency (FMBA), and the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences are participating in the work to ensure the landing of the descent vehicle on the Russian side.
There are also specialists from other countries in this team, whose space passengers will be on board the Soyuz MS-24. Representatives of the Republic of Belarus and the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have already arrived in Kazakhstan.
