ROSCOSMOS - Soyuz MS-20 Mission patch.
Dec. 19/20, 2021
The Soyuz MS-20 crew transferred to their ship
Soyuz MS-20 hatch closure
Video above: The Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft’s hatch was closed on 19 December 2021, at 19:20 UTC (14:20 EST, 22:20 MSK; 20 December, at 04:20 JST). Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (Aлександр Мисуркин) and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa (前澤 友作) and Yozo Hirano (平野 陽三) are departing the International Space Station, with Soyuz MS-20 scheduled to undock on 19 December 2021, at 23:50 UTC (18:50 EST; 20 December, at 02:50 MSK/08:50 JST) and land in Kazakhstan on 20 December 2021, at 03:18 UTC (08:18 local time, 06:18 MSK, 12:18 JST; 19 December, at 22:18 EST).
The crew of the 20th visiting expedition to the International Space Station, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and space flight participants from Japan Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano, transferred from the ISS to the manned spacecraft Soyuz MS-20 and closed the transfer hatches before returning to Earth.
Within a few hours, the crew will have to perform the following tasks: donning the Sokol KV-2 flight suits, closing the hatches between the utility compartment and the descent vehicle, checking the tightness of all hatches and the operability of the systems.
At 02:49 Moscow time on December 20, 2021, a command will be issued to undock the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft. At 02:50:30 Moscow time, it should undock with the small research module "Poisk" of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, and then go into autonomous flight. The landing of the descent vehicle is expected 148 km southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan at 06:13 Moscow time.
Space tourists return home
Soyuz MS-20 undocking and departure
Video above: The Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft undocked from the Poisk module of the International Space Station (ISS) on 19 December 2021, at 23:50 UTC (18:50 EST; 20 December, at 02:50 MSK/08:50 JST). Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (Aлександр Мисуркин) and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa (前澤 友作) and Yozo Hirano (平野 陽三) are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan on 20 December 2021, at 03:18 UTC (08:18 local time, 06:18 MSK, 12:18 JST; 19 December, at 22:18 EST).
In accordance with the flight program of the International Space Station, on December 19, 2021 at 23:33 Moscow time, the transfer hatches between the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft and the Poisk module were closed. At 02:50:27 Moscow time on December 20, the spacecraft undocked from the Russian segment of the ISS in normal mode, switched to autonomous flight mode and went to Earth.
On board is a crew consisting of Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and space flight participants from Japan Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano. By the time they return, they will be in space for a little more than 11 days and 19 hours (for Misurkin - 346 days and 7 hours in three space flights).
According to the Flight Control Center TsNIIMash (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), at 05:19:04 Moscow time, the propulsion system of the manned spacecraft will be switched on for braking, and half an hour later, the utility and instrumentation compartments will separate from the descent vehicle, which will burn in dense layers atmosphere. The descent vehicle is expected to land at 06:13:18 Moscow time. Live broadcast from the landing site will be available on the website and in social networks of the State Corporation Roscosmos from 05:30 Moscow time.
After helicopters find the device, search and recovery vehicles with doctors and technicians will move to the landing site. Then, one by one, all three crew members will be helped out of the Soyuz. As soon as the doctors evacuate them, post-flight medical rehabilitation will begin - a set of therapeutic measures aimed at restoring the body after a space flight. It is planned that on the evening of December 20, Alexander Misurkin, Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano will arrive at Star City to carry out a program of post-flight scientific experiments and rehabilitation.
The landing will involve about 200 rescue specialists, an aviation group: 12 Mi-8 helicopters, two An-12 and one An-26 aircraft, more than 20 units of ground vehicles, including six modernized search and recovery vehicles FEM- 1 and FEM-2 "Blue Bird". Meteorologists of the Central Military District predict cloudiness and air temperature up to minus 5 degrees at the time of landing of the device in the steppe of Kazakhstan.
After the departure of the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, the crew of the 66th long-term expedition continued to work on board the International Space Station, consisting of Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, Peter Dubrov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Thomas Marshburn, Raj Chari, Keila Barron and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.
Related links:
ROSCOSMOS Press Releases: https://www.roscosmos.ru/33652/ and https://www.roscosmos.ru/33653/
Soyuz MS-20: https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/sojuz-ms-20/
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.roscosmos.ru/tag/mks/
Images, Videos, Text, Credits: ROSCOSMOS/NASA TV/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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