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ISS crew members enter Soyuz MS-17, close all hatches before returning to Earth

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft is to undock from the ISS at 04:34 Moscow time on Saturday

International Space Station NASA

International Space Station

MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, as well as US astronaut Kathleen Rubins, entered the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft and closed all hatches before returning to the Earth, according to a live broadcast on the Roscosmos website.

Later, the crew will put on flight spacesuits, check the spacecraft’s systems and examine hatches to make sure they are hermetically sealed.

The Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft is to undock from the ISS at 04:34 Moscow time on Saturday. The touchdown is scheduled for 07:55, and is expected to take place about 147 km southeast of Kazakhstan’s city of Zhezqazghan.

On Thursday, Ryzhikov handed over ISS command to US astronaut Shannon Walker, who will remain in the orbit along with six other crew members. Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov, and Rubins arrived to the ISS in October 2020. Their Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft set the record for the shortest journey to the ISS, arriving there in three hours and three minutes.

During their orbital mission, the cosmonauts performed one spacewalk and conducted over 50 scientific experiments. Apart from that, Ryzhikov and Kud-Sverchkov sealed cracks in the Russian Zvezda module, reducing ISS air leak by three times.

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