Overview
- Roscosmos confirmed the spacecraft separated from the Prichal module and began autonomous flight carrying Sergey Ryzhikov, Alexey Zubritskiy and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.
- The deorbit burn is planned for 07:10 MSK, with module separation around 07:38 MSK and landing targeted 146 kilometers southeast of Zhezkazgan at 08:04 MSK.
- During atmospheric entry, a plasma sheath of about 2,000 degrees Celsius is expected to cause a brief communications blackout and leave the heat shield scorched.
- Final descent will rely on parachutes, with soft-landing thrusters firing less than a meter above the ground.
- The crew is returning after Expedition 73, which included scientific research and two spacewalks by Ryzhikov and Zubritskiy to install the Ekran-M and Impuls experiment hardware.