———Update at 11:26 PM EST———–
The Soyuz module has safely landed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Captain Kelly, Sergeant Kornienko, and Lieutenant Colonel Volkov are safely on the ground!
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For those that can’t take any more Super Tuesday coverage, tonight is the night that Captain Scott Kelly, the ISS Commander for the past 340 days and Russian Cosmonauts/Flight Engineers Sergeant Mikhail Borisovich Kornienko and Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Alexandrovich Volkov* will be returning to Earth. The deorbit burn will begin at 10:34 PM EST and they are expected to touch down at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
* Lt. Col. Volkov is the son of legendary Cosmonaut Colonel Alexsandr Alexsandrovich Volkov.
Baud
Welcome back, astronauts!
Scott, we’re sorry we broke our electoral system while you were away.
beltane
Is this really a good time to be returning to earth?
JPL
The Bidens will be in Houston with his brother, when he returns to Houston. Safe travels Scott.
Elizabelle
Mmmmmm. David Bowie was alive when Astronaut Kelly ascended to the ISS.
Safe return, Scott.
I wonder if he could see Trump’s hair from space.
Amir Khalid
@JPL:
Scott Kelly is Gabby Giffords’ BIL, isn’t he? From the photos, he looks just like Mark.
MaryRC
@JPL: He is Mark Kelly’s twin brother, right? And Gabrielle Gifford’s brother-in-law?
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: @MaryRC: Yes.
Gbbalto
@Amir Khalid: They are twins and both astronauts. Think NASA is doing some health study on earthbound vs orbiting one
wenchacha
I just watched the Space Men: American Experience on PBS. Pretty cool. Safe voyage home to Scott Kelly.
Misterpuff
Hope he gets his landlegs quickly.
That is some outstanding astronauting!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Twin brother.
I saw Scott moving through the space station this morning(they have the interior camera on) and was wondering when he was headed back(I knew it was soon, but didn’t know it was today).
JPL
@Gbbalto: A year in space, so that he can compare his body to his twin. I’m glad that someone still believes in science.
It’s just amazing.
eclare
@JPL: Yes, lots of studies planned so we can see what effect would be if we send someone to Mars.
Mike J
30 seconds from deorbit burn
Adam L Silverman
@Mike J: Burn is complete.
That’s Burn, not Bern, so no flaming the comments…
humboldtblue
Hope all goes well.
Mnemosyne
We may spoil our cats a little too much — Annie sat on the floor and glared at me until I moved to the opposite end of the couch so she could sit on her preferred end.
Adam L Silverman
Module separation and final descent should begin in about a minute.
Adam L Silverman
Module separation occurred at 11:00 PM EST.
Cheryl Rofer
Module separation has occurred.
Emily Lakdawalla just reminded me how Russian and American voices working together move me. I’m distracted by the primaries, so I’m glad for the reminder.
We can work together on this project, even when other things are not going well.
Punchy
Who won the ISS caucus? I’m assuming they voted before bailing….
Adam L Silverman
@Punchy: Kasparov. Unfortunately the cosmonauts now have to turn themselves in once they clear isolation.
Mike J
Out of plasma blackout.
Adam L Silverman
Chutes have been deployed.
NotMax
They’ll be landing on the ground, but returning to Earth.
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: huh?
NotMax
Adam L. SilvermanYou neglected to capitalize the name of the planet in your post (thus the blockquote).
Adam L Silverman
@NotMax: ahh, I was trying to figure out how I had misspelled Earth or something.
Adam L Silverman
Russian ground control has just confirmed that the Soyuz module has safely landed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Captain Kelly, Sergeant Kornienko, and Lieutenant Colonel Volkov are safely on the ground!
TaMara (BHF)
Glad they’re back and safe. I was watching and then had to stop because I get so worried.
Steeplejack
@NotMax:
Lowercase earth is perfectly acceptable in that construction, as in: “I shot an arrow into the air and watched it return to earth.” For a near-space orbital vehicle you could go either way. It’s not like it’s returning from Mars.
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack: I was going to go with Terra or Sol 3/Sol III, but thought that those were too pretentious.
Steeplejack
@Adam L Silverman:
Srsly.
Elizabelle
Lucky to have Balloon Juice to inform me of the astronauts’ safe return, because CNN is all SUPER TUESDAY.
Nothing else newsworthy happened in the world yesterday, apparently. Wish I could get BBC.
Welcome back, space travelers.
Lawrence
My brain’s autocorrect read ISS commander as ISIS Commander about three times before I realized my error. Because if a guy named Scott Kelly is running ISIS, I clearly missed a bunch of news.