A Japanese astronaut, a veteran Russian cosmonaut and a NASA flight engineer strapped into a Soyuz ferry craft, undocked from the International Space Station and fell back to Earth Tuesday, plunging back through the atmosphere for a jarring rocket-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 188-day stay in orbit.

Read our full story.

NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio, 54, is now out of the Soyuz spacecraft. Mastracchio's logbook now reads 227 days in space on four missions, including three space shuttle flights before this long-duration expedition on the space station.

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who rode home in the Soyuz capsule's right seat, is now out of the spacecraft. Wakata, 50, was the first Japanese commander of the International Space Station. He is now a veteran of four space missions dating back to 1996, amassing 347 days in space, making him the most experienced Japanese astronaut in history.

Veteran Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, the Soyuz commander, is first to exit the Soyuz spacecraft. Tyurin, 54, has now logged 532 days in space on three spaceflights, putting him 13th on the list for time in space.

Video from the landing site shows the Soyuz spacecraft landed upright. Ground crews are installing a stand around the bell-shaped capsule to assist in extracting the three-man crew.

The recovery team arrived aboard a convoy of Russian helicopters that landed around the spacecraft to begin assisting the crew out of the capsule.

Recovery crews report the Soyuz spacecraft landed at 9:58:30 p.m. EDT (0158:30 GMT).

TOUCHDOWN! The Soyuz TMA-11M capsule has landed in Kazakhstan, capping the 188-day voyage of Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Tyurin, NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata to the International Space Station on Expeditions 38 and 39, a mission that traveled more than 79 million miles and 3,000 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).

The recovery team reports they have made audio contact with the Soyuz crew.

Live video from the landing zone shows the Soyuz descent module suspended under its orange and white main parachute. There appear to be no issues with the descent.

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.

Landing is scheduled about 10 minutes from now. NASA reports no problems so far in the re-entry, and Mission Control has confirmed parachute deployment.

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 experiences the period of maximum g-forces at this point during entry.

Twenty minutes to landing. The Soyuz is making its fiery plunge into the atmosphere after 188 days in orbit.

Entry Interface. The Soyuz is now hitting the upper fringes of the atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet, flying at an angle of 1.35 degrees. The Expedition 39 crew will soon begin to feel the first tugs of Earth's gravity after five months in space.

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

Entry Interface. The Soyuz is now hitting the upper fringes of the atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet, flying at an angle of 1.35 degrees. The Expedition 39 crew will soon begin to feel the first tugs of Earth's gravity after five months in space.

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

Module separation has occurred, Mission Control reports.

The three segments of the Soyuz TMA-10M 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 expected to close their helmets at this time.

The Soyuz is aiming for a landing site at 47.3 degrees north latitude and 69.57 east longitude. Landing occurs 2 hours, 10 minutes 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-11M spacecraft are firing to brake from orbit. This deorbit burn is expected to last four minutes and 41 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.

Everything is on track for the landing of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft at 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 GMT), with the start of the capsule's deorbit burn expected at 9:04 p.m. EDT (0104 GMT).

The deorbit burn is programmed to last four minute and 41 seconds to slow the spacecraft's velocity by 286 mph, enough for the Soyuz to drop in altitude and be captured by Earth's atmosphere for re-entry.

Just before it falls into the atmosphere, the Soyuz spacecraft's three modules will separate at 9:32 p.m. EDT (0132 GMT). The orbital habitation and service modules will burn up during re-entry, while the landing section containing Mikhail Tyurin, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata is protected by a heat shield.

Altitude of the Soyuz spacecraft at module separation will be about 86 miles, or just shy of 140 kilometers.

The Soyuz spacecraft will reach the top of the discernable atmosphere at 9:35 p.m. EDT (0135 GMT). The crew members will experience maximum g-forces at 9:42 p.m. EDT (0142 GMT).

The Soyuz will issue the command to open parachutes at 9:44 p.m. EDT (0144 GMT), beginning a nearly 15-minute descent to the steppes of Kazakhstan southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan.

A set of so-called "soft landing rockets" will fire just above the ground to further cushion the impact of landing.

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 9:04 p.m. EDT (0104 GMT). Touchdown is scheduled for 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 GMT).

The undocking occurred as the spacecraft flew 261 miles over Mongolia.

UNDOCKING. The Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft has separated from the space station after 188 days there, setting the stage for today's return to Earth with Soyuz commander Mikhail Tyurin, NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio and outgoing space station commander Koichi Wakata.

The undocking command has been issued. Hooks and latches holding the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft and the station's Poisk 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, activate the craft's systems, remove docking clamps, depressurize the vestibule between the capsule and station, and don their Sokol spacesuits. Undocking is set for 6:36 p.m. EDT (2236 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 3:26 p.m. EDT.

Mikhail Tyurin, Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata will put on their Sokol launch and entry spacesuits over the next few hours before undocking of the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft at 6:36 p.m. EDT (2236 GMT). Landing is scheduled for 9:58 p.m. EDT (0158 GMT Wednesday).

Read our preview story.

An international team of astronauts will strap into a Russian Soyuz descent capsule Tuesday and fly back to Earth to conclude a 188-day expedition on the International Space Station.

With veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin at the controls, the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft will shepherd the three-man crew through the perils of a scorching re-entry through the atmosphere before descending under parachute to touchdown in Kazakhstan.

Tyurin will be joined by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the outgoing commander of the Expedition 39 mission on the space station, and NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio.

Wakata handed over command of the 450-ton orbiting research laboratory to NASA astronaut Steve Swanson on Monday.

"What an exciting time we shared in this increment, and congratulations to the entire team on their remarkable achievement," Wakata said Monday during a change-of-command ceremony.

"I had the honor of serving as commander, which was an incredible opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and experience in managing this complex outpost of humans in space, and I couldn't have done this job without the superb performance of my fellow crew mates and their great teamwork."

Wakata was the first Japanese astronaut to command a human space mission.

The Expedition 40 crew formally takes over the space station with the undocking of Wakata's crew Tuesday. Led by Swanson, Expedition 40 includes Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev.

Once the departing crew floats into the Soyuz spacecraft, hatches between the capsule and the space station are scheduled to be closed at 1915 GMT (3:15 p.m. EDT) Tuesday.

The crew will buckle into their custom-molded consoles -- with Tyurin manning the center seat as commander, Mastracchio in the left seat as board engineer, and Wakata in the right seat.

Undocking is set for 2236 GMT Tuesday (6:36 p.m. EDT), followed by a burn of the Soyuz rocket thrusters at 0104 GMT (9:04 p.m. EDT) to slow the craft's velocity enough to fall back into the atmosphere.

The spacecraft's propulsion and orbital habitation modules will jettison from the landing section, where the three-man crew will be positioned for the computer-controlled re-entry, at 0132 GMT (9:32 p.m. EDT).

Touchdown southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan is scheduled for 0158 GMT (9:58 p.m. EDT), or 7:58 a.m. Wednesday at the landing site.

Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will be joined by three fresh crew mates May 28, when Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency flight engineer Alexander Gerst launch to the space station.