UPDATE: At 11:26 p.m. EST, NASA confirmed that the landing module of the Soyuz spacecraft safely touched down in Kazakhstan after separating from the rest of the craft and deploying its parachutes. Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko return to Earth after 340 days in space, along with cosmonaut Sergey Volkov.
UPDATE: At 10:38 p.m. EST, the Soyuz spacecraft successfully competed its deorbit burn while flying over the Atlantic. The burn lasted 4 minutes and 49 seconds, slowing the spacecraft down about 286 mph in preparation for atmospheric entry and return to Earth.
UPDATE: At 8:02 p.m. EST, the Soyuz undocked from the ISS for a journey home of just under four hours. The craft is backing away at 1/10th of a meter per second. Two thruster firings will clear it out of range of the ISS and send it on its way home.
UPDATE: At 4:42 p.m. EST, Kornienko and Kelly began shutting the doors to their Soyuz module. It was the first of two hatches needing to be closed, one in the station and one in the craft. However, the crew will not immediately begin their descent, and will instead make preparations for the return to Earth tonight. At 4:43, the Soyuz hatch door was completely closed.
UPDATE: This article has been updated to reflect that command was changed on Feb. 29, not Mar. 1 as previously indicated.
On March 27, 2015, Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko left for the International Space Station for a stay that would last nearly a year. Today the pair will come home in a Soyuz craft (which is apparently a terrible ride).
Yesterday, Kelly handed command over to NASA vet Tim Kopra. NASA-TV will begin airing the return at 4:15 p.m., when Kelly will say his goodbyes, with the hatch of the Soyuz closing at 4:40 p.m. The craft will begin undocking at 7:45, with the official undocking at 8:05 p.m. At 10:34 p.m., the deorbit burn will begin, and Kelly and Kornienko will land in Kazakhstan at 11:27 p.m. Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov will also return with them. You can watch these events at the above video.
After returning to the planet, Kelly will be given intensive medical tests. He was chosen in part because his twin brother Mark is also a decorated astronaut, offering the perfect control group to test the effects of microgravity on the human body during a long-duration space flight. You know, the kind astronauts will experience going to Mars.
Kelly has now set NASA's spaceflight duration record at 340 days, though four cosmonauts have spent more than a year in orbit. Through multiple trips, Kelly has spent a total of 520 days in space, setting new NASA records.
Welcome back, Commander Kelly. You may now unfold your arms.
Jay Bennett is the associate editor of PopularMechanics.com. He has also written for Smithsonian, Popular Science and Outside Magazine.
