Station flight engineer and Soyuz co-pilot Luca Parmitano has been extracted from the capsule after his first spaceflight to complete tonight's crew egress. He has accumulated 166 days in space.

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, previously a mission specialist on shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission in 2008, has exited the Soyuz. She now has 180 days spent in space.

The Olympic torch for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, has been removed from the Soyuz capsule after its journey to the International Space Station, It was taken outside for a spacewalk Saturday.

The torch will be used to light the Olympic cauldron in Sochi in February.

First to exit the capsule was Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, now a veteran of four spaceflights. He has logged a flight aboard the shuttle Atlantis on the STS-112 mission in 2002 and three long-duration missions to the International Space Station -- Expedition 15, Expedition 24-25 and Expedition 36-37. With the conclusion of this flight, he has spent 537 days in space, enough for 12th on the list for time in space.

Live video from the Soyuz touchdown point shows recovery teams working to remove the three crew members from the capsule.

Recovery forces report the Soyuz spacecraft is resting on its side after touchdown. This is normal in windy landing conditions and actually accelerates the process of extracting the 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-09M capsule has landed in Kazakhstan, capping the 166-day voyage of Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and the European Space Agency's Luca Parmitano to the International Space Station on Expeditions 36 and 37, a mission that traveled 70.3 million miles and spanned 2,656 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.

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

The parachutes on the Soyuz spacecraft have deployed normally. Touchdown expected in 10 minutes.

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.

Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin just radioed mission control a maximum G-load reading of 4.9g.

The crew experiences 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 37 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-09M 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 are also closing their helmets at this time.

The Soyuz is aiming for a landing site at 47.19 degrees north latitude and 69.34 east longitude.

The forecast at the landing site calls for a few clouds at 2,500 feet and broken clouds at 25,000 feet, with a temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Landing will occur just after sunrise in Kazakhstan.

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.)

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 TMA-09M 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, slowing the vehicle by about 286 mph.

Now one hour to touchdown.

The 15-second 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 nearly 8 miles away when it performs the deorbit burn today at 8:55 p.m. EST. Touchdown is scheduled for 9:49 p.m. EST.

UNDOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft has separated from the space station after 166 days there, setting the stage for today's return to Earth with Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, NASA flight engineer Karen Nyberg and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano.

The undocking occurred 262 miles over northeastern Mongolia.

The undocking command has been issued. Hooks and latches holding the Soyuz and the station's Zvezda 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 6:26 p.m. EST (2326 GMT).

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 3:09 p.m. EST.

Fyodor Yurchikhin, Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano will put on their Sokol launch and entry spacesuits over the next few hours before undocking of the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft at 6:26 p.m. EST (2336 GMT). Landing is scheduled for 9:49 p.m. EST (0249 GMT Monday).

Three space station crew members put on spacesuits and boarded their Soyuz spacecraft Friday for a short trip to relocate the capsule to a new docking port on the orbiting outpost, clearing the way for the arrival of three new residents next week.

Read our full story.

Contact and capture! The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft, under the control of Fyodor Yurchikhin, has redocked with the International Space Station at the Zvezda aft docking port.

The vehicles were traveling over southern Russia near the Ukraine border at the time of docking.

The space station is now in free drift with attitude control thrusters temporarily disabled as motion between the vehicles dampens out over the next few minutes.

The Soyuz docking probe has retracted and hooks have closed to create a firm connection between the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft and the Zvezda service module. Leak checks are on tap over the next couple of hours before the crew opens hatches.

Contact and capture! The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft, under the control of Fyodor Yurchikhin, has redocked with the International Space Station at the Zvezda aft docking port.

The vehicles were traveling over southern Russia near the Ukraine border at the time of docking.

The space station is now in free drift with attitude control thrusters temporarily disabled as motion between the vehicles dampens out over the next few minutes.

The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft has lined up with the Zvezda aft docking port and is commencing final approach.

Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin is manually flying the spacecraft below the International Space Station to line it up with the aft docking port of the Zvezda service module.

Undocking confirmed! The Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft is backing away from a docking port on the space station's Rassvet module under the manual control of cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

The vehicles are flying 262 statute miles over the South Atlantic Ocean.

It will take about 5 minutes for the Soyuz to fly to a distance of about 180 meters, or 590 feet, from the complex and begin a brief stationkeeping period while ground controllers in Moscow evaluate the craft's health.

Yurchikhin, flanked by Karen Nyberg and Luca Parmitano, will maneuver the Soyuz to a position 590 feet from the aft docking port of the Zvezda service module, pause for about 4 minutes, then command the Soyuz to close in toward docking.

Redocking is expected at 0858 GMT (4:58 a.m. EDT), followed a few minutes later by the latching of hooks and the retraction of the Soyuz docking probe to create a firm mechanical connection between the vehicles.

About 90 minutes of leak checks are planned to ensure equal pressure inside the vehicles before controllers give the crew a go to open hatches and board the space station.

Three members of the space station's Expedition 37 crew will strap into their Soyuz spacecraft Friday for a brief flyaround of the complex to relocate the spaceship to another docking port in preparation for the arrival of a fresh crew next week.

Under the controls of veteran cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft will undock from the space station's Rassvet module at 0834 GMT (4:34 a.m. EDT).

Flanked by flight engineer Karen Nyberg and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano, Yurchikhin will oversee the relocation maneuvers, which will see the Soyuz back away from Rassvet and translate into position to line up with the aft docking port on the space station's Zvezda service module.

Guided by a Kurs rendezvous radar, the Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft will approach Zvezda for docking at 0858 GMT (4:58 a.m. EDT).

Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano will be clad in their Sokol launch and entry spacesuits for the trip, just in case the Soyuz runs into problems with the redocking and must return to Earth.

The space station's other three astronauts - Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky and Michael Hopkins - will stay inside the complex.

The relocation of Soyuz TMA-09M clears the Rassvet docking port for the arrival of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft Nov. 7.

Soyuz TMA-11M and its three occupants - Mikhail Tyurin, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata - are at the Baikonur Cosmodrome preparing for launch Nov. 7 at 0414 GMT (11:14 p.m. EST). After a quick chase of the space station, docking is scheduled for 1031 GMT (5:31 a.m. EST) to temporarily boost the lab's crew size to nine.

Yurchikhin, Nyberg and Parmitano are due to depart the complex for good Nov. 10 and head for landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan to close out a 166-day mission.