Outgoing Expedition 26 commander Scott Kelly, Soyuz TMA-01M commander Alexander Kaleri and flight engineer Oleg Skripochka undocked from the International Space Station Wednesday, plunged back into the atmosphere and descended to a snowy touchdown in Kazakhstan to close out 159-day mission.

Read our landing story.

With Kelly, Kaleri and Skripochka back on the planet safe and sound, the International Space Station continues to circle Earth with the new Expedition 27 crew of commander Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli.

Another three-person crew -- Ron Garan, Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev -- will launch aboard a Soyuz from Baikonur Cosmodrome next month to boost the outpost's resident team to the full size of six members.

The station partners are employing "indirect crew handovers" that see the returning members land a couple of weeks prior to their replacements launching.

All three space fliers appear in good shape after their landing today. They'll be choppered to the Kazakh city of Kustanai, then Kaleri and Skripochka will take a plane back to Star City outside Moscow. Kelly will board a NASA aircraft for the long flight to Houston.

Oleg Skripochka has been extracted from the Soyuz after his first spaceflight. He is now being seated outside in a reclining chair next to the crewmates.

Skripochka, 41, attended a young cosmonauts school and later a technical university to earn a mechanical engineering degree. The avid skydiver worked for the Russian aerospace firm Energia before being selected as a cosmonaut.

Read his full bio.

A thumbs up from Scott Kelly.

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly has exited the Soyuz after his third spaceflight and the second trip to the International Space Station. Including those two earlier space shuttle rides, he's now accumulated 180 days in orbit.

He previously flew as a shuttle pilot to service the Hubble Space Telescope in 1999 and the commander of a construction mission to the International Space Station in 2007. The Navy captain, a native of Orange, New Jersey, initially served as the station's flight engineer on Expedition 25, then became commander when Expedition 26 began.

Read his full bio.

First to exit the capsule was Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri, commander of the Soyuz spacecraft during launch and landing.

The seasoned veteran has completed his fifth spaceflight and 770 days in orbit, putting him second all-time. Born in Latvia and a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the cosmonaut worked aboard the Russian space station Mir during missions in 1992, 1996-1997 and 2000, including the final manned mission to the outpost, and spent 195 days aboard the International Space Station in 2003-2004 for Expedition 8.

Read his full bio.

Because of the wintry conditions at the landing site, the crew will be removed from the capsule, undergo a brief checkup and then go directly to the helicopters to be ferried away. The inflatable medical tent typically used for a longer stay at the landing zone won't be used today.

The landing site has ankle-deep snow and strong winds blowing at approximately 30 knots.

The recovery team aboard a convoy of Russian helicopters is touching down around the spacecraft to begin assisting the crew out of the capsule. The Soyuz came to rest on its side, which is not uncommon.

The official landing time has been marked at 3:54 a.m. EDT.

LANDING CONFIRMED! The Russian Soyuz TMA-01M capsule has landed in Kazakhstan, capping the 159-day voyage of Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka to the International Space Station.

Standing by for confirmation of touchdown.

At an altitude of about 12 meters, cockpit displays will tell cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri to prepare for the soft landing engine firing. Just one meter above the surface, and just seconds before touchdown, the six solid propellant engines are fired in a final braking maneuver, enabling the Soyuz to land to complete its mission, settling down at a velocity of about 1.5 meters per second (3.35 mph).

Two of the recovery helicopters have the capsule in sight and are following it toward the landing site.

Now five minutes to touchdown as Soyuz descends to Kazakhstan under its main parachute.

At an altitude of five kilometers, the module's heat shield is scheduled to be jettisoned. This is followed by the termination of the aerodynamic spin cycle and the dumping of any residual propellant from the Soyuz. Computers also will arm the module's seat shock absorbers in preparation for landing.

With the jettisoning of the capsule's heat shield, the Soyuz altimeter is exposed to the surface of the Earth. Using a reflector system, signals are bounced to the ground from the Soyuz and reflected back, providing the capsule's computers updated information on altitude and rate of descent.

Visual spotting of the Soyuz is reported by the recovery forces and they confirm the parachutes were deploying.

Once the drogue chute is jettisoned, the main parachute is deployed. It is connected to the Descent Module by two harnesses, covers an area of about 1,000 square meters and slows descent to 7.2 meters/second.

Initially, the Descent Module will hang underneath the main parachute at a 30-degree angle with respect to the horizon for aerodynamic stability, but the bottommost harness will be severed a few minutes before landing, allowing the Descent Module to hang vertically through touchdown.

Onboard computers should be starting a commanded sequence for deployment of the capsule's parachutes at an altitude of about 10 kilometers. Two "pilot" parachutes are unfurled first, extracting a 24-square-meter drogue parachute. Within 16 seconds, the craft's fall will slow from 230 meters per second to about 80 m/s.

The parachute deployment creates a gentle spin for the Soyuz as it dangles underneath the drogue chute, assisting in the capsule's stability in the final minutes before touchdown.

The crew experience the period of maximum G-loads at this point during entry.

The capsule's flight path has crossed the Mediterranean, Turkey and the Black Sea before flying over southern Russia and into Kazakhstan.

Twenty minutes to landing. The Soyuz is making its fiery plunge into the atmosphere now.

Entry Interface. The Soyuz is now hitting the upper fringes of the atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet. The Expedition crew will soon begin to feel the first tugs of Earth's gravity after six months in space.

The entry guidance by the spacecraft's onboard software package is scheduled to start in a couple of minutes.

Module separation has occurred, capsule commander Alexander Kaleri reports.

The three segments of the Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft have jettisoned apart, allowing the crew-carrying Descent Module to safely ferry the three crew members back to Earth. The no-longer-needed Orbital Module and Instrumentation/Propulsion Module are designed to burn up in the atmosphere.

The Soyuz computers have been loaded with the commands to perform the pyrotechnic separation of the modules.

Time to touchdown is now 30 minutes.

In about five minutes at an altitude of 87 miles, just above the first traces of the Earth's atmosphere, computers will command the separation of the three modules that comprise the Soyuz vehicle. With the crew strapped in to the Descent Module, the forward Orbital Module containing the docking mechanism and rendezvous antennas and the rear Instrumentation/Propulsion Module, which houses the engines and avionics, will pyrotechnically separate and burn up in the atmosphere.

The Descent Module's computers will orient the capsule with its ablative heat shield pointing forward to repel the buildup of heat as it plunges into the atmosphere. Entry interface at the upper fringes of the atmosphere, when the capsule is about 400,000 feet above the Earth, happens about three minutes after module separation.

The crew members, already strapped into their seats, have now closed their helmet visors.

The Soyuz flight path is crossing Africa now.

BURN COMPLETE! The Soyuz has performed its braking maneuver, committing the craft for entry into the atmosphere. Touchdown is about 45 minutes away.

The craft is flying backward over the south-central Atlantic Ocean on a northeasterly trajectory bound for Africa and eventually Asia where landing is expected at 3:53 a.m. EDT in north-central Kazakhstan, or 1:53 p.m. local time.

BURN IGNITION! Thrusters on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft are firing to brake from orbit. This deorbit burn is expected to last four minutes and 17 seconds to put the capsule on a course for the trip back to Earth.

Clocks are counting down to ignition of the deorbit burn at 3:03 a.m. EDT. It will slow the Soyuz by 257 miles per hour.

The deorbit burn is coming up at 3:03 a.m. EDT, a braking maneuver lasting 4 minutes and 17 minutes. Separation of the Soyuz modules is expected at 3:28 a.m. and entry interface at 3:32 a.m. The parachutes deploy at 3:39 a.m., leading to touchdown around 3:53 a.m. EST.

Mission Control says the crew's test of the Soyuz ammeters to monitor the capsule's roll rate was successful following the undocking.

Soyuz is about 500 feet above the station now.

After running an avionics test of the capsule, a 20-second burn by the Soyuz's thrusters has been completed to accelerate the spacecraft's departure from the outpost.

Command of the International Space Station now belongs to the new Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli. They'll be joined by another American and two Russians when the next Soyuz arrives next month.

The 10-second separation firing by the Soyuz's thrusters has been burned.

The undocking occurred 218 miles over the China.

UNDOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft has separated from the space station after 157 days there, setting the stage for tonight's return to Earth with Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka.

The undocking command has been issued. Hooks and latches holding the Soyuz and the station's Poisk mini research module tightly together are being opened now.

Soyuz's docking mechanism is powered up and the station's thrusters are inhibited for the upcoming undocking event.

In the next few minutes, the International Space Station will be placed into a "free drift" mode in preparation for the Soyuz departure. The complex has been maneuvered into the proper orientation for undocking.

The homeward-bound crew has worked together for the past couple of hours to power up the Soyuz, active the craft's systems, remove docking clamps, depressurize the vestibule between the capsule and station, and don their Sokol spacesuits. Undocking is set for 12:27 a.m. EDT.

Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka have boarded their Soyuz spacecraft for tonight's journey from the International Space Station to the landing site in Kazakhstan. The crew confirmed at 9:25 p.m. EDT that the hatchway between the station and capsule was closed.

Outgoing space station commander Scott Kelly and crewmates Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka geared up for return to Earth aboard their patched up Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft early Wednesday to wrap up a 159-day mission.

Check out our landing preview story.

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts will depart the International Space Station tonight and return to Earth in a parachute-equipped Soyuz descent capsule after a half-year in orbit.

Commander Scott Kelly, Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka are heading home after their tour-of-duty as part of Expeditions 25 and 26.

The trio will say their farewells to the station's other residents -- the new Expedition 27 commander Dmitry Kondratyev, Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli -- then float into the Soyuz TMA-01M craft currently docked to the station's Rassvet module and close the hatchway around 9:20 p.m. EDT.

The homeward-bound crew will work together for a next couple of hours to power up the Soyuz, active the craft's systems, remove docking clamps, depressurize the vestibule between the capsule and station and perform other work to ready for undocking.

Kelly, Kaleri and Skripochka have been living on the station since October 9. Their departure begins the next rotation of crews and change of Expedition mission number.

Once the undocking happens, the station will be staffed by just Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli until another Russian Soyuz spacecraft launches next month , boosting the crew back to the full size of six with the addition of Ron Garan, Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev.

Tonight's Soyuz departure activities begin when the command to open hooks and latches firmly holding the capsule to its docking port is sent at 12:24 a.m. EDT (0424 GMT). Physical separation between the two craft occurs three minutes later at 12:27 a.m.

After moving a short distance from the station, the Soyuz engines will fire for 10 seconds to execute the so-called separation burn No. 1. The spacecraft then performs a test in close proximity to the station before performing a 20-second separation burn at 12:36 a.m. to propel the craft out of the orbiting lab's vicinity.

About two-and-a-half hours later, the capsule's engines will ignite for the deorbit burn to brake from space. The onboard computers will initiate an engine firing at 3:03:17 a.m. EST (0703:17 GMT) that slows the ship just enough to slip out of orbit for the return to Earth. The burn will last four minutes and 17 seconds.

Shortly before reaching the top of the atmosphere, the Soyuz's three distinct modules will separate at 3:27:57 a.m. EST (0727:57 GMT) under computer command. The crew will be located in the Descent Module, which is sandwiched between the forward Orbital Module containing the docking mechanism and the rear Instrumentation and Propulsion Module housing the engines and avionics.

The Descent Module orients itself to point the ablative heat shield in the direction of travel to protect the craft and crew from the intense plunge back to Earth. At 3:30:50 a.m. EST (0730:50 GMT) and an altitude of 63 miles, the moment of Entry Interface occurs as the capsule hits the upper fringes of the atmosphere for the fiery re-entry.

During the fall to Earth, the Orbital Module and Instrumentation and Propulsion Module will burn up in the atmosphere.

About seven minutes after Entry Interface, the crew will experience the period of maximum G-loads during entry at an altitude of 20 miles, as they feel the tug of Earth's gravity for the first time since launch.

At 3:39:23 a.m. (0739:23 GMT), the onboard computers will start a commanded sequence for deployment of the capsule's parachutes at an altitude of about 6.6 miles. Two "pilot" parachutes are unfurled first, extracting a drogue parachute.

The parachute deployment creates a gentle spin for the Soyuz as it dangles underneath the drogue chute, assisting in the capsule's stability in the final minutes before touchdown.

The drogue chute will be jettisoned, allowing the main parachute to be deployed. It is connected to the Descent Module by two harnesses.

Initially, the Descent Module will hang underneath the main parachute at a 30-degree angle with respect to the horizon for aerodynamic stability, but the bottommost harness will be severed a few minutes before landing, allowing the Descent Module to hang vertically through touchdown.

At an altitude of just over three miles, the heat shield will be cast free. That is followed by dumping of any residual propellant from the Soyuz.

Once the heat shield is gone, the Soyuz altimeter is exposed to the surface of the Earth. Using a reflector system, signals are bounced to the ground from the Soyuz and reflected back, providing the capsule's computers updated information on altitude and rate of descent.

At an altitude of about 40 feet, cockpit displays will tell the crew to prepare for the soft landing engine firing. Just seconds before touchdown, the six solid propellant engines are fired in a final braking maneuver, enabling the Soyuz to land to complete its mission.

Touchdown is expected at 3:53:43 a.m. EST (0753:43 GMT) on the steppes of central Kazakhstan. The target landing spot is 51.00 degrees North latitude and 67.06 degrees East longitude. The mission concludes with a duration of 159 days, 8 hours and 42 minutes.

A group of Russian helicopters carrying the recovery forces should arrive soon after landing to help the crew exit the capsule.

Each crew member will be placed in special reclining chairs near the capsule for initial medical tests and begin readapting to Earth's gravity. They will be transferred into a portable medical tent erected near the touchdown point where the three crew members can remove their spacesuits.

Post-landing plans call for the crew to be flown from the site in helicopters.

Watch this page for live updates during the undocking and landing.

And if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates sent to your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)