CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - Two Russian cosmonauts and Malaysia's first spaceflyer will
return to Earth early Sunday to complete their respective missions to the
International Space Station (ISS).
After six
months in Earth orbit, veteran cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov are
due to land their Russian-built Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft on the Central
Asian steppes of Kazakhstan to end their Expedition 15 mission to the orbital
laboratory.
"We would
like to stay, but with the arrival of a new crew we do have to make room for them,"
Yurchikhin, Expedition 15 commander, told reporters this week, adding that he's
looking forward to seeing his loved ones again.
Yurchikhin
and Kotov, an Expedition 15 flight engineer, are wrapping up a busy
spaceflight that has seen three visiting NASA space shuttle crews to continue
ISS construction. On Friday, they handed control of the space station over to Expedition
16 commander Peggy Whitson, the first female astronaut to lead an ISS
mission.
"It's been
a very impressive mission and you guys have performed exceptionally," Whitson
told the Expedition 15 crew.
Returning
to Earth with Yurchikhin and Kotov is Malaysian astronaut Sheikh
Muszaphar Shukor, who is completing an 11-day flight to the space station. He
conducted a series of science experiments and shared Malaysian space food with
this ISS hosts. Whitson said the Malaysian dried mango dish was a particular
hit.
"I'm happy
that they liked the food and found it very tasty," Shukor, an orthopedic
surgeon chosen from 11,000 applicants to become his nation's first astronaut,
told reporters earlier this week. "I love the crew because I really feel at
home here."
Shukor launched
to the ISS on Oct. 10 with Whitson and Expedition flight engineer Yuri
Malenchenko as part of a commercial agreement between the Malaysian government
and Russia for Russian-built military jets. He will land with the Expedition 15
crew while Whitson, Malenchenko and NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson - who originally
arrived at the ISS in June as part of its Expedition 15 crew - stay aboard as
part of Expedition 16.
Anderson will return to Earth once his replacement
- NASA astronaut Daniel Tani - arrives aboard NASA's
shuttle Discovery next week.
"On Sunday,
I will be losing great friends, but during my time on station I found brothers,"
Anderson told his Expedition 15 crewmates Friday. "Thank you very much."
Shukor and
the Expedition 15 crew are slated to cast off from the ISS at 3:14 a.m. EDT (0714
GMT) Sunday and fire their Soyuz spacecraft's engines at 5:47 a.m. EDT (0947
GMT) to make a planned 6:37 a.m. EDT (1037 GMT) landing on the Kazakh steppe.
Their space
station departure will set the stage for a busy few weeks aboard the ISS,
beginning with the planned Tuesday launch of NASA's shuttle Discovery to
deliver a vital connecting node to the orbital node. The 14-day construction
flight will lay the foundation for future international laboratories at the
ISS.
NASA
will broadcast the undocking and landing activities of Shukor and the
Expedition 15 crew live on NASA TV beginning at 11:45 p.m. EDT tonight (0345
Oct. 21 GMT). Click here for SPACE.com's ISS mission updates
and landing coverage.
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