ISS astronauts begin return to earth on Soyuz spacecraft

Sunday night three International Space Station (ISS) astronauts began their journey home to earth aboard a Soyuz-13M space capsule.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev have spent almost six months living on the ISS conducting experiments, according to Ria Novosti.

The Soyuz successfully undocked from the ISS at 7:36 p.m. EST and is scheduled to land in Kazakhstan at 10:58 p.m. EST. The trip will take about three hours, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

Heres a description from the ESA of what the astronauts will experience on their journey back to earth:

Their bumpy ride begins as they hit the atmosphere and they jettison parts of their spacecraft. Parachutes will deploy and retrorockets will fire an instant before touchdown to slow them down for a dramatic but safe landing.

Watch the arrival of Soyuz to the ISS on NASA TV or on Spaceflight Now.

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ISS astronauts begin return to earth on Soyuz spacecraft