International Space Station Expedition 50 Astronauts Returning To Earth: Watch Live Stream

UPDATE: 7:25 a.m. EDT — The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft carrying the three Expedition 50 astronauts from the International Space Station landed safely in Kazakhstan at 7:20 a.m. EDT.

Original story:

It is time for another change at the International Space Station (ISS). The three astronauts who were part of Expedition 50 will fly back to Earth on Monday morning in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Expedition commander Shane Kimbrough of NASA and Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko of Roscosmos entered Soyuz MS-02 and closed the hatch at 12:45 a.m. EDT Monday. The capsule is scheduled to undock from the space station at 3:57 a.m. EDT. After a journey of about three hours and 20 minutes, it will land in the steppes of Kazakhstan at about 5:20 p.m. local time (7:20 a.m. EDT).

Read: Roscosmos May Extend ISS Partnership Beyond 2024

The undocking of the Soyuz capsule from the ISS, the deorbit burn as it nears Earth and its landing are all being broadcast live by NASA TV, which can be watched on the NASA website using this link. Live coverage of the undocking starts 3:30 a.m. EDT.

Expedition 50 began in October, and lasted 173 days in space. Kimbrough handed over command of the ISS to another NASA astronaut, Peggy Whitson, on Sunday, who leads Expedition 51, with Oleg Novitskiy from Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet from European Space Agency as flight engineers. They are expected to be joined by Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikin and NASA’s Jack Fischer, who will leave Earth on April 20, bringing the total crew size to five.

The usual number of six members for a complete crew will not be met for Expedition 51 because of Russia’s decision to reduce the number of participating cosmonauts in 2017. The decision will now keep Whitson aboard ISS through Expedition 52 as well, adding another feather in her cap.