A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA physician-astronaut and outgoing Canadian space station commander Chris Hadfield, whose deft use of social media turned him into an orbital superstar, undocked and plunged back to Earth Monday to close out a five-month stay in space.

Read our landing story.

Station commander and Soyuz co-pilot Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, has been extracted from the capsule after his third spaceflight to complete tonight's crew egress. He previously flew on shuttle Atlantis' STS-74 flight to the Mir space station and Endeavour's STS-100 to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, previously a mission specialist and spacewalker on shuttle Endeavour's STS-127 mission, has exited the Soyuz. He now has 162 days spent in space.

First to exit the capsule was Soyuz commander Roman Romanenko, now a veteran of two spaceflights -- Expeditions 20-21 and Expedition 34-35 -- for a total of 334 days in space.

Live video from the Soyuz touchdown point showing capsule on its side, hatch now open as ground forces work to remove crew.

The recovery team aboard a convoy of Russian helicopters is landing around the spacecraft to begin assisting the crew out of the capsule. The team reports the capsule did land upright.

TOUCHDOWN! The Soyuz TMA-07M capsule has landed in Kazakhstan, capping the 146-day voyage of Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, NASA's Tom Marshburn and Russia's Roman Romanenko to the International Space Station on Expeditions 34 and 35, a mission that traveled 61 million miles and spanned 2,300 orbits of the planet.

At an altitude of about 12 meters, cockpit displays will tell the cosmonauts 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).

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 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.

Ten minutes to touchdown.

LIVE video from the landing site shows the Soyuz descending through blue skies under its main chute.

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.

The chute deployment sequence is underway, recovery forces confirm.

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.

A map illustrating the planned landing site is posted on our Spaceflight Now's Facebook page.

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

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

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 four 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, Mission Control reports.

The three segments of the Soyuz TMA-07M 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 and enabled the commands to perform the pyrotechnic separation of the modules.

Time to touchdown is now 30 minutes.

In about three 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 Soyuz flight path is crossing Africa now as the spacecraft falls back toward the atmosphere.

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

DEORBIT BURN COMPLETE! The Soyuz has performed its braking maneuver, committing the craft for entry into the atmosphere. Touchdown is about 49 minutes away.

DEORBIT BURN IGNITION! Thrusters on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft are firing to brake from orbit. This deorbit burn is expected to last four minutes and 45 seconds to put the capsule on a course for the trip back to Earth.

Now one hour to touchdown.

The separation firing by the Soyuz's thrusters has been completed to accelerate the spacecraft's departure from the International Space Station. The capsule will be several miles away when it performs the deorbit burn today at 9:37 p.m. EDT. Touchdown is scheduled for 10:31 p.m. EDT.

UNDOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft has separated from the space station after 144 days there, setting the stage for today's return to Earth with Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, NASA's Tom Marshburn and Russia's Roman Romanenko.

The undocking occurred 255 miles over eastern Mongolia.

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

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 7:08 p.m. EDT.

The crew has boarded the Soyuz spacecraft for this evening's journey from the International Space Station to the landing site in Kazakhstan. The crew closed the hatchway between the station and capsule at 3:50 p.m. EDT.

After turning command of the International Space Station from Canada to Russia, half of the resident crew will complete its five-month mission aboard the complex tonight and return to Earth in a parachute-equipped Soyuz descent capsule.

Touchdown in south-central Kazakhstan is expected at 10:31 p.m. EDT (0231 GMT Tuesday).

Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, NASA's Tom Marshburn and Russia's Roman Romanenko are heading home after their tour-of-duty as part of Expeditions 34 and 35.

The trio will say their farewells to the station's other residents -- the new Expedition 36 commander Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA's Chris Cassidy -- then float into the Soyuz TMA-07M craft currently docked to the station's Rassvet module and close the hatchway around 3:50 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.

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko have been living on the station since Dec. 21. Their departure continues the next rotation of crews and change of Expedition mission number.

Once the undocking happens, the station will be staffed by just Vinogradov, Misurkin and Cassidy until another Russian Soyuz spacecraft launches at the end of this month.

Today's Soyuz departure activities begin when the command to open hooks and latches firmly holding the capsule to its docking port is sent at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Physical separation between the two craft occurs three minutes later at 7:08 p.m. (2308 GMT)

After moving a short distance from the station, the Soyuz engines will fire for 15 seconds to begin propelling the craft out of the orbiting lab's vicinity at 7:11 p.m.

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 9:37 p.m. EDT (0137 GMT) that slows the ship by 286 miles per hour, just enough to slip out of orbit for the return to Earth. The burn will last 4 minutes and 45 seconds.

Shortly before reaching the top of the atmosphere, the Soyuz's three distinct modules will separate at 10:05 p.m. EDT (0205 GMT). 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 10:08 p.m. EDT (0208 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 24 miles, as they feel the tug of Earth's gravity for the first time since launch.

At 10:16 p.m. (0216 GMT), the onboard computers will start a commanded sequence for deployment of the capsule's parachutes at an altitude of about 6.7 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 10:30:39 p.m. EDT (0230:39 GMT) on the steppes of Kazakhstan. The target landing spot is 47.21 degrees North latitude and 69.35 degrees East longitude. The mission concludes with a duration of 145 days, 14 hours and 18 minutes.

It will be about three hours after sunrise at the landing site.

A group of Russian helicopters and all-terrain ground vehicles 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.

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