The bird isn’t landing, but some of the crew of the latest International Space Station expedition 33 is. Scroll below to see NASA’s International Space Station crew return live feed.
Three ISS astronauts are coming home, NASA says. They include NASA astronaut and expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams, Japanese astronaut Ahihiko Hoshide and the Russian Yuri Malenchenko, the cosmonaut who is commanding the return capsule.
Commander Sunita “Suni” Williams wrote on her blog that it was “hard to leave.” Check out an excerpt. Find the full blog here.
Now, it is time to start thinking about coming home. Up to this point I haven’t, and sort of denied it. I am still in denial, but I am going through the motions because I don’t want to forget something when the hatch closes … so we are preparing.
Space is just really cool. I love it here, just like most folks who get to come here. It is just so cool how we adapt and become so comfortable up here. You can be standing one moment and with just a little effort, flip upside down and be hanging – “look ma, no hands!” It is just an amazing place to be. Not to mention the view … why would anyone want to leave?
So, you might ask, what do you have to pack? It is a little like the airlines, we do have a baggage limit, but slightly less – only 1.5 kg in the Soyuz. That is like 3.5 lbs., so not much. We all brought that much personal stuff up here, so we know pretty much how much we can take back – essentially the same stuff we brought up comes back down with us in the Soyuz.
According to NASA reps, the three crew members — Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko have spent the last three months living and working on board the ISS — exited the orbiting space lab via a Russian Soyuz ferry. That’s the TMA-05M space capsule.
This is a cool shot of the Soyuz and ISS mating and departing.
The live feed video is below the fold, as are some shots from NASA preceding the return, according to NASA and space.com.
NASA reps say the Soyuz TMA-05M lands in Kazakhstan. Check out the preparations and live feed below. Get even more coverage at NASA.gov.
LIVE FEED International Space Station Crew return below.
Streaming live video by Ustream
Here’s a pic of expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams handing off control to astronaut Kevin Ford, who has taken over ISS command.
ISS Commander Sunita Williams hands over command control to astronaut Kevin Ford.
Credit: NASA
