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Soyuz capsule finally undocks from the space station
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION
Posted: September 24, 2010


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Running a day late because of docking system problems, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut undocked from the International Space Station late Friday, kicking off a three-and-a-half-hour descent to Earth to close out a six-month stay in space.


A camera on the Soyuz's nose captured this view as the capsule backed away.Credit: NASA TV
 
With outgoing Expedition 24 commander Alexander Skvortsov at the controls in the Soyuz's center seat, the TMA-18 vehicle departed the Poisk module docking port at 10:02 p.m. EDT as the two spacecraft passed 220 miles above the Russia-Mongolia border. Strapped into a seat to Skvortsov's left was flight engineer Mikhail Kornienko. To his right was Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

Unlike the crew's first attempt to head home Thursday night when trouble with hatch sensors forced a 24-hour delay, there were no problems of any significance Friday and the hatch, hot-wired to bypass a sensor problem, worked flawlessly.

"We have separation," someone radioed as the Soyuz backed away.

"Copy."

"Thank you, Fyodor, thank you to the entire crew," Skvortsov radioed Fyodor Yurchikhin and his two Expedition 25 crewmates, commander Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker.

The fight plan called for Skvortsov to move the Soyuz spacecraft a safe distance away from the International Space Station before starting a four-minute 21-second deorbit rocket firing at 12:31:17 a.m. Saturday. The burn was designed to slow the spacecraft by about 258 mph, just enough to drop it out of orbit on a trajectory to Kazakhstan.

After a half-hour free fall, the three modules making up the Soyuz spacecraft will separate and the central descent module carrying the crew, protected by a heat shield, will hit the discernible atmosphere at an altitude of about 63 miles at 12:59 a.m.

About six minutes later, Skvortsov, Kornienko and Caldwell Dyson will experience maximum deceleration as the descent module passes through an altitude of 21 miles. Two minutes after that, at 1:07 a.m., commands will be sent to begin deploying drogue chutes and the module's main parachute at an altitude of about 6.6 miles.

Landing near the town of Arkalyk in central Kazakhstan is expected at 1:21:53 a.m. EDT (11:21:53 a.m. local time). Russian recovery crews are standing by to assist the crew and to help extract them from the cramped descent module.

After medical checks, all three will be flown to Karaganda for a traditional Kazakh welcome home ceremony. Skvortsov and Kornienko will fly from there back to Star City near Moscow while Caldwell Dyson will board a NASA jet for a flight back to Houston.


The station crewmates say their farewells before the departing trio boarded the Soyuz. Credit: NASA TV
 
Describing a Soyuz re-entry earlier this week, Caldwell Dyson said "I've heard it described as a train wreck followed by a car crash followed by a falling off your bike kind of thing. ... All I can really say is I'm going to expect this to be 'Mr. Toad's Wild Ride' for me."

She said she was "really looking forward to being extracted from the Soyuz right where we're supposed to land and getting carried, like a princess, to my fur chair," referring to recliners the Russian recovery team provides for returning Soyuz fliers.

"I've seen it happen dozens of time on television and I simply can't wait to feel what that chair is like," Caldwell Dyson joked. "Granted, I'll be slightly mesmerized by all the vestibular effects of entering one G, I hope that does not cloud the sensation of resting in a furry chair!"

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: SOYUZ TMA-18 DEPARTS THE SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: CREW BOARDS SOYUZ CAPSULE FOR DEPARTURE PLAY
VIDEO: SPACE STATION CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY PLAY

VIDEO: WATCH CARGO FREIGHTER DOCK TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH OF SOYUZ ROCKET WITH PROGRESS 39P PLAY

VIDEO: POST-SPACEWALK NO. 3 STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKERS CONCLUDE THE THIRD EVA PLAY
VIDEO: AMMONIA HOSES ARE ATTACHED TO THE PUMP PLAY
VIDEO: POWER AND DATA LINES BRING PUMP TO LIFE PLAY
VIDEO: REPLACEMENT PUMP SECURELY BOLTED DOWN PLAY
VIDEO: PUMP INSERTED INTO SPACE STATION SLOT PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER HAULS PUMP OVER TO TRUSS PLAY
VIDEO: RETRIEVING THE REPLACEMENT PUMP PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALK NO. 3 BEGINS PLAY

VIDEO: POST-SPACEWALK NO. 2 STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: FAILED COOLANT PUMP REMOVED FROM THE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: ROBOT ARM MANEUVERS SPACEWALKER AROUND PLAY
VIDEO: POWER AND DATA LINES UNPLUGGED PLAY
VIDEO: TROUBLESOME UMBILICAL DETACHED PLAY
VIDEO: NO REPEAT OF AMMONIA LEAK PLAY

VIDEO: POST-SPACEWALK NO. 1 STATUS BRIEFING PLAY
VIDEO: PROBLEM CONNECTOR FINALLY FREED BUT THEN LEAKS PLAY
VIDEO: LEFT-HAND AMMONIA UMBILICAL COMES OFF WITH EASE PLAY
VIDEO: SKIPPING OVER PROBLEM CONNECTOR TO DO ANOTHER PLAY
VIDEO: TROUBLES AND ADVICE FOR STUCK AMMONIA LINE PLAY
VIDEO: PUMP'S SMALL COOLING LINE UNPLUGGED PLAY
VIDEO: SPACEWALKER DOUG WHEELOCK WORKS ON OLD PUMP PLAY
VIDEO: BRIEFING ON PUMP FAILURE AND SPACEWALKS PLAY

VIDEO: FULL BROADCAST OF SUPPLY SHIP'S DOCKING PLAY
VIDEO: WATCH CARGO FREIGHTER DOCK TO SPACE STATION PLAY
VIDEO: PROGRESS 38P FREIGHTER LAUNCHED PLAY

VIDEO: ORANGE COUNTY AND AL JAZEERA MEDIA INTERVIEWS PLAY

VIDEO: SOYUZ RELOCATED FROM ZVEZDA TO RASSVET PLAY

VIDEO: WELCOME CEREMONY FOR THE NEW RESIDENTS PLAY
VIDEO: POST-DOCKING NEWS BRIEFING IN RUSSIA PLAY
VIDEO: SOYUZ DOCKS TO THE SPACE STATION PLAY

VIDEO: FULL EXPERIENCE FROM LIFTOFF TO ORBIT PLAY
VIDEO: ENTIRE EXPEDITION 24 LAUNCH BROADCAST PLAY
VIDEO: CREW DEPARTS SITE 254 FOR LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: VIPS MEET THE CREW ON LAUNCH MORNING PLAY
VIDEO: CREW MEMBERS DON THEIR SOKOL SPACESUITS PLAY
VIDEO: LAUNCH MORNING TRADITIONS AT CREW QUARTERS PLAY

VIDEO: SOYUZ ROCKET ROLLED TO THE LAUNCH PAD PLAY
VIDEO: POST-ROLLOUT COMMENTS FROM NASA OFFICIAL PLAY
VIDEO: ASSEMBLY OF SOYUZ COMPLETED IN THE HANGAR PLAY
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS OF CREW'S ACTIVITIES AT BAIKONUR PLAY
VIDEO: CREW'S DEPARTURE FROM STAR CITY TRAINING BASE PLAY
VIDEO: PRIME AND BACKUP CREWS MEET WITH REPORTERS PLAY
VIDEO: CEREMONIAL VISIT TO RED SQUARE IN MOSCOW PLAY
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