MOSCOW, September 27. /TASS/. The Russian Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft has undocked from the Prichal nodal module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), according to a broadcast by Roscosmos.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin, who is also a TASS special correspondent, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio are onboard the spacecraft. The spacecraft will begin an autonomous flight. At approximately 1:24 p.m. Moscow time, the spacecraft will fire its engines for a deorbit burn. The touchdown is expected to take place southeast of the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan at 2:17 p.m. Moscow time.
Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio arrived at the ISS on September 21, 2022. They were initially expected to return to Earth this spring, but their mission had to be extended until September 27, 2023 after a coolant loop on an external radiator of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost experienced a leak on December 15, 2022.