From the ISS to Earth: Details of the landing of "Soyuz MS-26" with the crew of the 72nd expedition have become known

On April 20, 2025, the crew of the 72nd expedition, consisting of Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Wagner, and Donald Pettit, will land on the descent module "Soyuz MS-26" in the area of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan. The astronauts' mission lasted from September 11, 2024.

Closing of the transfer hatches between the ship and the "Rassvet" module of the Russian segment of the ISS is scheduled from 21:35 to 21:55 Moscow time. Undocking of "Soyuz MS-26" from the "Rassvet" module will take place at 00:57. Landing of the apparatus is expected at 04:21, 147 kilometers southeast of Zhezkazgan.

The cosmonauts will arrive on the "Soyuz MS-26" spacecraft, developed by RKK Energia named after S.P. Korolev and designed to deliver crews to orbital stations and return them to Earth. Since 1966, 176 flights of the "Soyuz" family of ships have been carried out, 72 of which were to the ISS.

This flight was the second for Ivan Wagner, the third for Alexey Ovchinin, and the fourth for Donald Pettit. During the expedition, 43 experiments were carried out, including "Kinetics 2", "Monitor of the Entire Sky 2", and "BTN-Neutron-2".

The "Kinetics 2" experiment assessed the effect of convection during glass transitions in palladium-based alloys under microgravity conditions. "Monitor of the Entire Sky 2" was engaged in registering X-ray sources in the celestial sphere, and "BTN-Neutron-2" studied the energy spectrum of neutrons.

Important tasks were also completed, including a spacewalk to install an X-ray spectrometer, seven ISS orbit corrections, and the reception of two Progress MS cargo ships, which delivered the necessary cargo for the crew.

In addition, the cosmonauts received a new crew for the 73rd mission, consisting of Sergei Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritsky, and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.

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