MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano (Italy) and NASA astronaut Christina Koch boarded the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft that would take them back to Earth on Thursday, closed hatches behind them.

Preparations for the spacecraft’s departure from the International Space Station (ISS) are broadcast live on the website of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos.

The crew is to put on their flight spacesuits, check the operability of the spacraft’s systems and air-tightness of hatches.

Soyuz MS-13 is to undock from the ISS at 08:50 on Thursday. The landing is scheduled for 12:12 Moscow time, some 147 km southeast of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir are to continue working aboard the orbital outpost.