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April 19, 2025 20:00-22:05 - CSPAN
02:04:55
NASA Soyuz MS-26 Spacecraft Earth Landing
Participants
Main
m
mission control [houston]
49:11
Appearances
n
nicole kobie
00:50
r
ro khanna
rep/d 00:51
t
tom homan
01:43
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Speaker Time Text
unidentified
Remember the great poem about that.
We are worried about whether or not we're going to be able to celebrate the 250th anniversary.
And let me tell you something that's going on right now that's really important to that celebration.
One of the things that Doge has decided to focus on are leases.
These are for buildings and facilities throughout the Park Service.
There's a woodwork shop in Lowell, Massachusetts, and their facility has been put up for possible lease cancellation.
Those are the people who are working to restore Independence Hall right now.
So this very specialized group of woodworkers in Lowell, Massachusetts do their work and then bring it down to Philadelphia to restore Independence Hall.
And we're worried that their facility could get shut down very quickly, and they won't be able to work on that restoration anymore.
And Independence Hall won't be up to par for the 250th anniversary.
So there are some decisions being made by Doge right now that really don't make any sense.
And they don't really fit the Park Service's needs.
And because the Park Service manages all of these incredible places and they all have different needs, we're worried that even a priority like the 250th anniversary.
We're taking you live now to the Kazakh steppe region of Kazakhstan, where Russia's Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft is making its final descent through Earth's orbit in a return landing, bringing NASA astronaut Don Pettit and two Russian cosmonauts back from the International Space Station.
Astronaut Pettit, by the way, will be landing on this, his 70th birthday.
Live coverage on C-SPAN.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
And Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner on board.
Countdown clocks ticking backward to the deorbit firing of the Soyuz engine, a braking maneuver, 26 and a half minutes from now to begin the final leg of their journey home and the end to a 220-day mission aboard the International Outpost.
Good evening from Mission Control in Houston in the International Space Station Flight Control Room as we are in the final broadcast of the evening, the homecoming for these three crew members who spent 220 days on the station, ending a mission of 3,520 orbits of the Earth that has spanned 93.3 million statued miles.
Landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan for Pettit, Ovchinin, and Wagner is scheduled at 8.20 and 44 seconds p.m. Central Time, which is 6.20 and 44 seconds a.m. Kazakhstan time on Sunday morning, April 20th, Easter Sunday, Don Pettit's 70th birthday.
Everything has gone extremely well as we have proceeded down the deorbit checklists and all of the timelines that has set up the Soyuz MS-26 for the engine firing that is coming up now 25 and a half minutes from now.
That will be a four-minute 41-second braking maneuver to slow the Soyuz down by 128 meters per second, allowing it to drop out of orbit for its 54-minute ride back to the steppe of Kazakhstan,
where the trio on board the Soyuz descent module will be greeted by the Rosa Aviatsa search and recovery forces, including the NASA embedded team that is going to be en route to the landing site a short time from now in a variety of Russian Mi-8 helicopters.
Here in Mission Control, Flight Director Garrett Hahn is on orbit at this hour.
He's joined on console by spacecraft communicator Luka Parmitano, a veteran of Soyuz missions to the International Space Station.
They are working in concert with the flight control team at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolyov on the outside on the outskirts of Moscow.
See a view from a balcony camera overlooking the large flight control room.
As they are in communications with the Soyuz crew, as they will be during the bulk of the descent back to the landing site, communications will be handed off at some point to a fixed-wing Antonov-26 aircraft that will be flying around the perimeter of the landing site, relaying both voice communications and data back to the control center there in Korolyov for the Russian flight controllers to assess.
We'll be going through all of the timeline activities here in a moment.
First, a quick look at the departing crew that is just a little bit away from its deorbit burn and entry back into the Earth's atmosphere.
Alexei Ovchinin, the veteran Soyuz commander in the center seat of the descent module, flanked to his left by Ivan Wagner and to his right by NASA flight engineer Don Pettit.
Pettit will have logged 220 days in space at the time of his landing, a total of 590 days in space on his four space flights.
Alexey Ovchinin, with 220 days in space on this mission, will have totaled 595 days in space on his four flights.
And Ivan Wagner, completing his second spaceflight to the International Space Station, will have totaled 416 days in space on his pair of excursions to the International Outpost.
Several hours ago, just before 2 p.m. Central Time, the three departing crew members of Chinin, Pettit, and Wagner, clad in their blue undergarments, said farewell to the counterparts who are remaining aboard the International Space Station before they closed the hatch, first on the Rossvyat module side of the docking interface and then the Soyuz hatch on the other side of the docking interface, to begin a series of leak checks and systems checks.
That was the precursor to the donning of their Sokol launch and entry suits that they're clad in in the descent module of the Soyuz.
You see on the right side of your screen Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takoya Onishi, who took over command of the International Space Station on Friday from Alexei Ovchinin.
Onishi will remain commander of the station until his return to Earth with the Crew-10 crew later this year.
The hatch to the Soyuz vehicle swung close at 1.52 p.m. Central Time, 2.52 p.m. Eastern Time to set into motion all of the systems checks that ultimately resulted in the undocking of the Soyuz from the International Space Station.
With all of those systems checks having been completed, the hooks to the Soyuz that held it in place to the Rosviet module opened, and at 4:57 and 37 seconds p.m. Central Time, 5:57 and 37 seconds p.m. Eastern Time, the Soyuz pushed away from the Rosviet module with physical separation occurring as the station and Soyuz flew 260 miles over southern Mongolia.
There were a couple of separation burns that increased the velocity for the Soyuz's departure from the vicinity of the International Space Station, putting it now some 41 kilometers away from the station for the deorbit burn that is scheduled to occur just over 20 minutes from now.
Again, looking at a replay of the departure of the Soyuz vehicle from the International Space Station, you see in the field of view the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft that arrived on April 8th with NASA astronaut Johnny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky parking in the parking place right next door to the Soyuz that has just departed.
the MS-26.
Upcoming in about 18 and a half minutes, the deorbit burn, again a four-minute, 41-second retrograde firing of the Soyuz engine to allow it to drop out of orbit for its descent back into the atmosphere.
23 minutes after the deorbit burn, there will be the pyrotechnic separation of the three sections of the Soyuz vehicle.
The crew remaining, of course, in the center section, the descent module with its heat shield repelling the heat that will build up to some 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit around the spacecraft.
Once the vehicle has entered through the atmosphere, a drogue chute will be deployed and in turn will pull out the main parachute, that large orange and white parachute that you're familiar seeing on our broadcasts of previous Soyuz landings.
That drag chute will slow the descent rate of the Soyuz down considerably.
And then just a moment before touchdown, soft landing engines will fire to soften the impact on the ground and the Soyuz crew will be home.
The interesting part about the parachutes, the two pilot parachutes are first deployed, the second of which extracts the drogue chute.
That drogue chute, once released, measures 24 square meters, slowing the Soyuz down from a descent rate of 230 meters per second to just 80 meters per second.
The main parachute is then released, a huge chute covering an area of some 1,000 meters, slowing the Soyuz to a descent rate of just over 7 meters per second.
Its harnesses first allow the Soyuz to descend at an angle, a canted angle of some 30 degrees to expel heat, then shifts the Soyuz to a straight vertical descent.
Once again, that pinpoint of light you're seeing is the Soyuz MS-26.
We are inside 17 minutes until the deorbit burn.
Just to give you some time hacks coming up on events to come, the deorbit burn again scheduled at 7.27 and 7 seconds p.m. Central Time, 8.27 and 7 seconds p.m. Eastern Time.
4 minute 41 second engine firing to act as a braking maneuver to slow the Soyuz down by 128 meters per second.
23 minutes after the deorbit burn, at 7.55 p.m., rounding it off, we should see the separation of the three sections of the Soyuz, as we just mentioned earlier in the animation.
Three minutes after the module separation, the vehicle will enter the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 326,800 feet.
The crew on board will feel the first sensation of Earth's gravity in 220 days at that point.
And about a minute and 30 after entry interface, as it is called, the vehicle will enter into the plasma regime, basically a big fireball that is generated around the vehicle with the heat being repelled by the Soyuz heat shield.
That plasma regime that the vehicle will be in is about five minutes in duration.
We do expect a blackout period in communications until the vehicle descends past that period of peak heating and moves into an area in a lower regime in the atmosphere.
Once the vehicle exits the plasma regime, we should see maximum G-loads building up on the crew, some 4 to 5 Gs at an altitude of 21 miles above the Earth.
The command to begin the opening of the chutes that we just described should occur at 8.06 and 28 seconds p.m. Central Time, 9.06 and 28 seconds p.m. Eastern Time.
The landing itself is scheduled at 8.20 and 44 seconds p.m. Central, 9.20 and 44 seconds p.m. Eastern Time.
That will be 6.20 and 44 seconds a.m. at the landing site in Kazakhstan, some 91 miles to the southeast of the town of Jezkazgan.
The current coordinates predicted by the ballistics folks at the Russian Mission Control Center call for the landing to occur at 47 degrees, 19 minutes north latitude, 69 degrees and 34 minutes east longitude.
The landing to occur 56 minutes after sunrise at the landing site.
The weather at the landing site is good, some 44 degrees Fahrenheit in temperature, just a few clouds overhead, some partly cloudy skies throughout the course of the overnight hours at the landing site.
Hopefully, we will have good visibility as the Soyuz descends under its main parachute.
There are a number of Russian Mi-8 helicopters in play as part of the search and recovery forces, eight helicopters in all, two of which are stationed at the ballistic staging site well to the southwest of the primary landing site.
Those two Russian Mi-8 helicopters are at the Kraini airport near the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launch site for Soyuz vehicles.
They would come into play in the unlikely event that the Soyuz moved into a ballistic entry that would create a shortfall in their intended landing target, which is to the southeast of the town of Jezkazgan.
There will be half a dozen Russian Mi-8 helicopters in play for the prime landing site, including NASA personnel.
Those personnel took off from Karaganda earlier tonight.
They are either en route to the landing site or have landed at the interim staging city of Jezkazgan and will be taking off at the time of the deorbit burn, which is about 12 and a half minutes from now.
Those helicopters will arrive at the landing site in tandem, forming a circular racetrack pattern around the landing site.
Communications between Soyuz and a fixed-wing aircraft, the Antonov-26, will be in play to relay data and voice to the Russian mission control flight control team in Korolev, outside of Moscow.
Once the Soyuz lands, those Russian Mi-8 helicopters will land in rapid-fire succession in a sequential fashion so that the recovery process of safety the vehicle and extracting the crew can be accomplished.
The crew will be placed in three chairs, if you will, for an opportunity for the three crew members to begin to get their land legs back as they readapt to Earth's gravity before they are carried in those chairs into a nearby inflatable medical tent that will be set up so they can get out of their Sokol launch and entry suits into more comfortable flight clothing.
They then will be brought to three separate helicopters to be flown back to the staging city of Karagonda, where a NASA plane is waiting for Don Pettit to return him to the Johnson Space Center.
Ovchinin and Wagner will return in a Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft to be flown back to their training base in their homes in Star City, Russia, outside of Moscow.
unidentified
One minute till Ikawa Inhibit Command is going to be issued.
Copy, and we confirm.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Once the deorbit burn begins, you will hear Alexei Ovchinin, the Soyuz commander, who is in the center seat of the Soyuz, flanked to his left by Wagner, to his right by Pettit.
Ovchinin will be calling out the delta velocity or the change in velocity all the way up to 128 meters per second and the reduction in chamber pressure pressure in the Soyuz engine as it expends fuel for the braking maneuver of four minutes and 41 seconds in duration to slow the Soyuz down and allow it to drop out of orbit.
unidentified
At 03-17-00, we send ICAV-inhibit command.
And we have confirmation that Ikawé has been exhibited and E-2 is no longer illuminated.
Production Kilo2 is no longer illuminated.
And then the next reference point is Eskadé or ESCADE TIG-8.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
We're now inside nine and a half minutes until the initiation of the deorbit burn that begins the trip home for the Soyuz.
You will hear the Russian flight controllers talking to Ofchinin for as long as they are within the geometry of communications between the Soyuz VHF comm system and the antennas on the International Space Station.
You'll also hear the Soyuz referred to by the call sign of Burlock.
That is the call sign that Ofchinin chose for his vehicle.
That is a Russian term for a riverboat or a barge puller that existed in the 17th century Russian Empire, Burlak.
unidentified
The TIG-8 is here.
The 3S9 needs to be issued, and we started the maneuver.
S9, we don't need it.
off already.
And we have the fan on.
Copy.
All right, fans are off, and we are standing by for sig minus one minute.
Burlaki, just as a reminder, could you please provide a running commentary regardless of com quality?
So, we need time with like minutes, seconds.
please provide your report even in the blind copy
all right i'm on the um maneuver display monitoring copy
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
This is Mission Control Houston, five and a half minutes now until the deorbit burn is initiated.
Again, this is a four-minute, 41-second retrograde firing of the Soyuz engine to slow the vehicle down and enable it to drop out of orbit.
The change in velocity is 128 meters per second.
Once the deorbit burn is complete, the upper section of the Soyuz, known as the orbital module, that's the bulbous upper section of the three-section Soyuz vehicle, it will be depressurized 10 seconds after the completion of the deorbit burn, setting the stage for its separation pyrotechnically that will occur some 23 minutes after the completion of the deorbit burn.
Four minutes now until the start of the deorbit burn.
Everything in good shape.
Once the deorbit burn is complete, we'll have a few more details about the entry profile for the Soyuz MS-26.
The Russian MI-8 helicopters will be taking off from the interim staging point in Jezkazgan right around the time of the deorbit burn.
That will time them to arrive in sequence, in sync, with the arrival of the Soyuz under its large main chute.
The Russian MI-8 helicopters will form a welcoming party, if you will, in a racetrack pattern or flying around the landing site, awaiting the arrival of the Soyuz.
And once it touches down, so will the Russian helicopters in quick sequential fashion to begin the process of arriving at the spacecraft to safe the vehicle and extract the crew.
This is Mission Control Houston.
Again, you're looking at a view from a balcony camera overlooking the Russian Mission Control Center in Korojov, outside Moscow.
We are now two minutes away from the start of the deorbit burn.
Now approaching one minute until the start of the deorbit burn, again Pettit, Ovchinin and Wagner wrapping up 220 days in space and a journey of 93.3 million statute miles.
unidentified
All right, we have views, we have stabilization copy and we're standing by for the Escadet cover opening.
it's open the engine cover now confirmed to be open activation 24 seconds until the start of the burn off we go home yep
zero three the orbit burn now in progress Activation confirmed.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Once again, a four-minute 41-second retrograde maneuver.
The burn is underway.
unidentified
Copy.
13.2 meters per second.
044 is the delta V within 13 seconds.
And delta V parameters are nominal.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
We will be hearing these updates through the interpreter of Alexei of Chinin reading off changes in velocity all the way up to 128 meters per second and changes in the chamber pressure on the Soyuz engine.
unidentified
One minute 26.6 meters per second.
044 is the delta V. Cadou parameters are nominal.
Copy.
One minute 15 seconds.
33 meters.
044 is the delta V. copy one minute thirty thirty nine point 39.8.
And 044 is the delta V. So the parameters are nominal.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Two minutes into the burn, everything looking good.
unidentified
Yes.
Two minutes down 54 meters precisely.
0.45 is the Delta V. Copy.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Halfway through the burn, everything looking very good.
unidentified
Two and a half minutes of consideration, 66.9.
This is the delta.
And the delta V is 0.45.
the parameters are nominal coming up on three minutes into the burn all parameters looking very good Three minutes, 79.6 meters, 0.45.
This is the Delta V acceleration, and the KO parameters are nominal.
Three minutes of test of firing, 94.6 meters per second, and the KDU parameters are nominal.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
One minute of deorbit burn time left.
While the parameters looking very good according to the Russian flight controllers in Karyov.
unidentified
108.9 meters per second and the Kedu parameters are nominal.
Copy.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Standing by now for engine shutdown.
unidentified
View ratio is 4.5 minutes, 1 to 1.1 meters per second.
And we are standing by for the main command in 37 seconds.
The command has been executed.
The con command and thermal sensors are on activated.
The separation is confirmed.
Copy.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
And we have the completion of the deorbit burn with a perfect change in velocity of 128 meters per second.
Don Pettit, Alexei Ovchenin, and Ivan Wagner on the way home.
unidentified
Confirmed switching to the display inaudible, copy.
And the orbital module pressure is dropping, copy.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
As planned, the orbital module, the upper section of the Soyuz, is being depressurized to vacuum to set the stage for the pyrotechnic separation of the three sections of Soyuz 21 minutes and 44 seconds from now.
unidentified
TSS-rescue aids ready mode. Please repeat your last.
I think we can stow the RHC.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
So with the successful completion of the deorbit burn, next up is the separation of those three sections of the Soyuz, the upper section being the orbital module.
The lower section is the instrumentation and propulsion module.
The crew is strapped into their seats in the center section called the descent module, which is the only surviving section of the three-section Soyuz.
Alexei Ovchinin, the Soyuz commander, strapped into the center seat, flanked to his left by Ivan Wagner and Don Pettit to his right.
The search and recovery forces, including the NASA team of support personnel, will be arriving in the vicinity of the landing site a short time from now.
We're about 46 minutes away from our expected touchdown of Soyuz MS-26 at a point 91 miles to the southeast of the remote village of Jezkazgan.
Once the landing has occurred, the search and recovery teams will move toward the vehicle.
We'll ensure that no toxic gases are emanating from the spacecraft before they begin the process of opening up the hatch and extracting the crew one by one.
The particular order of extraction and the time it takes to extract the crew may be somewhat dependent on whether the vehicle lands upright or on its side.
We've seen it both ways.
Once the crew is out of the vehicle, they'll be placed in chairs brought alongside of the spacecraft itself to enable the three crew members to have a few minutes to get their land legs back before they are carried in those chairs to a nearby inflatable medical tent that will be set up by the recovery team.
It is there that they'll get out of their Soka launch and entry suits, move into more comfortable flight clothing, and then be brought to three waiting helicopters to be flown some two hours and 15 minutes from the landing site to the staging city of Karagonda, where Pettit will board a NASA plane to fly back to Houston.
And Ovchinin and Wagner will board a Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft to fly back to their homes at the training base in Star City outside of Moscow.
unidentified
That's it.
Is it good?
Are you doing well?
Yes, I'm doing really well.
Excellent.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
And just a reminder, although communications are still solid between Soyuz and the flight control room there in Korolev that you see on your screen, those communications could deteriorate and will be lost at some point once the Soyuz enters into the Earth's atmosphere into the area of peak heating for about five minutes in duration.
Before that, we do expect communications to become choppy or be lost altogether as the Soyuz passes further and further away from antennas on the International Space Station, relaying VHF communications between the MS-26 spacecraft and the flight control team there in Koryov.
Some 17 minutes now until our expected module separation.
Again, a pyrotechnic pre-programmed command that will separate the orbital and instrumentation and propulsion modules from the center section or the descent module in which the three crew members are strapped in their seats.
unidentified
We're lucky Moscow.
We're lucky Moscow.
Excellent.
Buraki, this is Moscow.
How do you read me?
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
The Soyuz is about 100 kilometers away from the International Space Station as we are about at the fringe of guaranteed voice communications between the spacecraft and the station.
The sequence of events again calling for the separation of the three sections of the Soyuz less than 15 minutes from now.
If everything goes as planned, the main parachute deployment sequence will begin just under 26 minutes from now with touchdown southeast of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan, just over 40 minutes from now.
This blackout period is typical and is to be expected.
The next guaranteed communications of any solid sort will be after the Soyuz leaves the regime of peak heating, or the exit from plasma, as it is called, when communications are then relayed between the Soyuz and the Antonov fixed-wing aircraft that serves as a flying relay station, if you will, around the landing site to relay data and voice back to the Russian flight control team there in Korolev.
There could be bits and pieces of choppy communications between now and then, so we'll be standing by for further updates as we approach the 13-minute mark until the module separation command is given for the pyrotechnic separation of the three sections of the Soyuz MS-26.
unidentified
Burlaki Moscow, how would you read me?
Burlaki Moscow, how would you read me?
Burlaki, how do you read Moscow?
Moscow, you're coming in with interference and how us.
We have you loud and clear, Burlaki.
And Burlaki, just a reminder, no later than 0348, the KSS rescue aid should be switched to readiness mode, and you also should close your helmet visors and switch rescue aid to automatic mode copy.
And just a reminder, please release transmit buttons right before the separation.
And you can use the transmit button going forward without locking it.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
So, again, as we just mentioned, brief bursts of communications between the Russian flight control team and Alexey Ovchinin under the call sign of Burlock, as is his call sign for his Soyuz vehicle, the MS-26.
as it barrels toward the landing sites southeast of Jezkazgan.
The module separation command expected about ten and a half minutes from now.
This crew, extremely experienced, coming home after 220 days in space.
Don Pettit will have logged 590 days in space on his four space flights.
Alexei Ovchinin, 595 days on his four flights, and Ivan Wagner, 416 days in space on his two missions to the International Space Station.
The seven crew members now comprising Expedition 73 are into a sleep period.
Aboard the complex from left to right, Karel Peskov, Johnny Kim, Nicole Ayers, Sergei Ryzhikov, and McClain, Alexei Zabritsky, and the new station commander, Takoya Onishi, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
McLean and Ayers earlier in the day on Saturday were busy in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station continuing preparations for a spacewalk that they have planned on May 1st.
We will be providing a briefing to preview that spacewalk this coming Thursday at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
Just over eight and a half minutes now until our expected separation of the three sections of the Soyuz.
Hopefully, we will be getting confirmation of that through telemetry received at the Russian Mission Control Center or, if we're fortunate enough, through a quick burst of voice confirmation from Ovchinin on board Soyuz MS-26.
unidentified
Burlaki, eight minutes remaining to separation.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Pettit, Ovchinin, and Wagner began an 11-day handover with NASA's Johnny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zabritsky after they were launched on April 8th, arriving at the station on a two-orbit rendezvous profile.
This is very typical and maintains a continuous human presence aboard the International Space Station that will approach a quarter-century 25-year milestone on November 2nd of this year.
The predicted landing time is 8.20 and 44 seconds p.m. Central Time, which is 6.20 and 44 seconds a.m. Kazakhstan time on April 20th, 56 minutes after sunrise.
Partly cloudy skies at the landing site.
Temperatures around 44 degrees Fahrenheit to greet Pettit of Chinen and Wagner.
Coming up on five minutes until module separation.
The module separation will occur at an altitude of 87 miles above the Earth.
Three minutes after module separation, we should move into the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere at 326,800 feet, where G-forces will begin building up on the three crew members who have been devoid of gravity for the past 220 days.
Coming up on two minutes until module separation, the updated landing coordinates predicted by the ballistics folks at the Russian Mission Control Center for the Soyuz MS-26 calls for landing to occur at a latitude of 47 degrees 19 minutes north, 69 degrees 33 minutes east longitude.
unidentified
Visually monitor separation.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
The Russian MI-8 helicopters and the Antonov fixed-wing aircraft are just about in position in a racetrack pattern around the landing site as they await the sight of the Soyuz MS-26 under its chutes.
Module separation now a minute and a half away.
unidentified
We're working minus one minute and 14 seconds to separation.
Be ready to turn on BIOS power.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Just about 40 seconds away from expected separation of the three sections of the Soyuz vehicle.
unidentified
Burwaki, minus 30 seconds to separation.
Please prepare for a separation.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
All quiet here in the flight control room at Mission Control in Houston, standing by.
And the data that has been received in the Russian Mission Control Center confirms a good module separation.
unidentified
Burwaki, two minutes, 30 seconds.
Remain to re-entry.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
So with the module separation having been confirmed, the next expected milestone will be the initiation of the opening of the chutes about 10 and a half minutes from now.
The parachute deployment sequence is triggered by a barometric pressure sensor at an altitude of 41,000 feet.
At this point, the main parachute cover is jettisoned by pyros and springs.
That pulls out two extraction chutes, which in turn pulls out the drogue chute.
That in turn pulls out the main chute.
This whole process takes about 20 seconds to occur.
Then at an altitude of 21,000 feet, a barometric pressure sensor starts a timer that triggers most of the remaining events in the landing sequence.
At an altitude of just 18,000 feet, the commands are issued to jettison the heat shield, inhibit the entry thrusters, and to open valves to vent all the hydrogen peroxide fuel for the entry thrusters and the oxygen in the life support system tank.
If we have video of the Soyuz under the chutes at that point, the white vapor you will see is normal.
That's a combination of hydrogen peroxide and oxygen venting into the air.
The purpose of this is to safe the vehicle for landing.
The recovery teams do not want hazardous gases to remain in those tanks when the soft landing thrusters work and the vehicle impacts the ground.
This way the ground support team can approach the vehicle immediately and know that they have a safe vehicle that they are continuing the recovery process for.
The Soyuz MS-26 should have begun its entry into the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 326,800 feet.
In about two minutes, peak heating will begin around the vehicle at an altitude of some 50 miles above the Earth.
Temperatures around the Soyuz expected to build to some 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
If everything goes as planned, we're some seven and a half minutes away from the expected deployment sequence of the parachutes.
Touchdown less than 22 minutes from now, 20 seconds away from peak heating on the vehicle.
unidentified
The crew is unintelligible.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Garbled conversations coming from the Soyuz MS-26.
This expected as the vehicle has entered the period of peak heating.
That should last about five minutes.
Inside six minutes until the expected deployment of the Soyuz chutes.
Twenty minutes until touchdown.
Three and a half minutes until the expected time of chute opening.
Everything continues to go by the timeline by the book for the Soyuz MS-26.
18 minutes until touchdown.
This is Mission Control Houston, continuing to await the resumption of communications between the Soyuz MS-26 and the flight control team in Korolev.
What you are likely to hear once we come out of this blackout period is the beep, beep, beep of a radio beacon.
unidentified
Loud and clear.
Max G is 4.26.
It's dropping.
And atmospheric mid was six seconds.
And C reentry 035927 and the integral is plus 16.
Everything is fine on board and the crew is feeling good.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Right on the money.
Alexey Ovchinin reporting that they have emerged from the peak heating period.
We are standing by for the deployment of parachutes about a minute and a half from now.
And as I just mentioned, you're hearing that radio beacon that is sending out location data to the Antonov fixed-wing aircraft that is flying around the vicinity of the landing site southeast of the town of Jezkazgan.
unidentified
All right, the index at the lower bottom integer is plus indiscreet number minus 0102.
Affirmative.
I am standing by for priming.
We should be at the point where the parachute deployment sequence
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
should have begun, some 14 minutes away from our expected touchdown time.
This is Mission Control Houston, once again awaiting confirmation of the deployment of the chutes as we approach 12 and a half minutes until touchdown.
This is Mission Control Houston.
The reports from the search and recovery forces in the MI-8 helicopters circling the landing site say that they have a visual of the Soyuz under its chutes.
This shot of Russian MI-8 helicopters circling the landing site as we await the descent and a view of the Soyuz under those chutes, but we do have confirmation that the Soyuz main chute has been deployed, So everything continues to proceed in a nominal fashion as we are about 10 minutes and 50 seconds away from touchdown.
As you can see from that brief view at the landing site, the skies are mostly cloudy.
So it's possible that we will not have a view of the Soyuz under the chutes for as long a period of time as we are accustomed to.
But as soon as we do get usable video, we will certainly punch it out.
We're just over 10 minutes away from landing as Don Pettit, Alexei Ovchinin, and Ivan Wagner are just moments away from wrapping up their 220-day 93.3 million mile mission.
Once again, this view, courtesy of Roscosmos, showing Russian MI-8 helicopters circling the vicinity of the landing site.
That view is intermittent at this point until we have a solid view of the Soyuz under its chutes.
unidentified
The crew is unintelligible.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Nine and a half minutes until touchdown, everything continuing to go well.
Again, we have confirmation through the search and recovery forces and the Russian MI-8 helicopters.
They have a visual on the Soyuz under its chute as we approach the nine-minute mark until touchdown.
And now we have more video from the landing site.
As you can see, the skies are somewhat overcast.
This is 91 miles to the southeast of the remote town of Jezgazgan, with somewhat
overcast skies at the landing site.
The temperature is about 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
So the search and recovery forces are in that racetrack pattern around the landing site, awaiting the touchdown of Soyuz some eight minutes from now.
This is Mission Control Houston.
Once again, all of the landing sequence events for the Soyuz MS-26 and its three crew members have unfolded in trip hammer fashion.
Everything going very well.
The module separation occurred on time, as did chute deployment.
The chutes are confirmed to have been deployed by the search and recovery forces.
As you're looking at landing site video under overcast skies, one of the reasons we haven't seen the Soyuz up to this point under its chutes, as we are accustomed to seeing, touchdown just over six and a half minutes from now.
unidentified
All right, the altitude is 700.
The helicopters are en route and everything's nominal.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
And that report indicating the altitude of the Soyuz continuing its descent on time under its main parachute, some 3,700 meters off the ground.
Five minutes until touchdown.
Again, a view from Roscosmos at the landing site, still awaiting a visual on the Soyuz.
The Russian Mi-8 helicopters did confirm a visual of the Soyuz descending normally under its main parachute.
That was at altitude, but because it's overcast on this Sunday morning in Kazakhstan on Don Pettit's 70th birthday, this view as we await a visual on the Soyuz prior to touchdown.
Four minutes until touchdown.
unidentified
1600.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Once again, this is a live view about one hour after sunrise at the landing site in Kazakhstan on a Sunday morning.
You can see Russian MI-8 helicopters in the vicinity of the landing zone.
We're still awaiting a visual on the Soyuz.
unidentified
Burlock 1, our data says the altitude is 1,400, 1,400.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
1,400 meters above the ground, according to the ballistic team at the Russian Mission Control Center.
unidentified
We are feeling great.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
The crew reports it's feeling great.
Alexey Ovchinin, Don Pettit, and Ivan Wagner just minutes away from landing on Terra Firma.
unidentified
1,000 meters the altitude.
Copy 1,000.
Our data says 1100.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
1,100 meters off the deck.
unidentified
2,000.
900 meters.
900 meters.
continue I can see you follow you copy the burlaks are feeling great and they've just passed the milestone of 900 About a minute and a half until touchdown.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
The Soyuz descending through 900 meters.
And there's our first view of the Soyuz.
Just about a minute until touchdown, everything looking good.
unidentified
300 meters right now.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
300 meters.
There's a Russian Mi-8 helicopter that will be one of the first helos to land after the Soyuz touches down.
Just a moment or two before touchdown, the soft landing thrusters will fire to further reduce the impact.
Standing by for touchdown.
And touchdown.
Soyuz MS-26 is home at 8:20 p.m. Central Time, 6.20 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Sunday morning.
Don Pettit ends his seven-month mission on his 70th birthday.
unidentified
It's on the ground, on the side.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
This is Mission Control Houston.
The Russian Mi-8 helicopters that you see flying over the landing site of the Soyuz will now begin to land in a rapid fire sequential fashion.
And the television truck that's providing the video that you're looking at will begin to move toward the vehicle.
So we will lose video for a short period of time until that truck has repositioned itself near the Soyuz capsule.
Once again, landing occurring at 8.20 p.m. Central Time, 6.20 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Easter Sunday.
Pettit, Ovchinin, and Wagner are back on Earth after 220 days in space and a mission of 93.3 million statute miles.
unidentified
You can
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
see the Russian Mi-8 helicopters are beginning to land, as is the plan.
The first personnel will be from RSC Energia working in tandem with the Rosaviatsa search and recovery forces to begin to approach the vehicle, making sure it is safe, free of toxic gas emissions before they begin the process of extracting the crew.
We'll also find out here shortly whether the vehicle landed upright or was pulled on its side.
unidentified
Go back to the original position.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
So the record books now reflect Don Pettit having accrued 590 days in space on four space flights, Alexei Ovchirman 595 days in space and Ivan Wagner 416 days.
And the reports from the search and recovery forces now confirm that the Soyuz landed and was pulled onto its side by winds at the landing site that often will pull the parachutes and thus result in the Soyuz moving from an upright position to landing on its side.
So the Soyuz is on its side.
That will not be an impediment to extracting the crew.
It's just a different technique that will be used out of a different hatch to remove the three crew members.
This is Mission Control Houston.
Once again, you're looking at the front screen at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korojov, outside Moscow, and the graphic on their center screen with the words, Yest Posatka.
They've landed as they did at 8:20 p.m. Central Time, 9:20 p.m. Eastern Time, 6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Sunday morning on Don Pettit's 70th birthday.
This is Mission Control Houston.
As we mentioned a moment or two ago, the video from the landing site deconfigured for the moment while the television truck belonging to the search and recovery forces moves toward the capsule.
The Soyuz MS-26 landing and being pulled over onto its side.
That was confirmed by the Rosaviatsa recovery team.
Landing occurring at 8:20 p.m. Central Time, 9:20 p.m. Eastern, 6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time.
All of the deorbit events went as planned from the time of undocking that occurred at 4:57 p.m. Central Time through the deorbit burn,
through all of the entry activities, the module separation, in which the three sections of the Soyuz separated from each other pyrotechnically, the descent through the atmosphere, the parachute deployment sequence, that all went by the book, resulting in a touchdown just about 56 minutes after sunrise on Sunday morning at the landing site in Kazakhstan, some 91 miles to the southeast of Jezkazgan.
The Russian MI-8 helicopters have descended.
They're all on the ground now as they will begin to make their way toward the spacecraft to ensure that it is safe before other personnel approach the vehicle to begin the extraction of the crew.
The process now, once the crew is extracted from the spacecraft, will include them being placed in three chairs alongside the capsule.
They'll have a few moments to begin to reacquire their equilibrium following 220 days of weightlessness.
Once they are hauled in those chairs into the nearby inflatable medical tent, they'll be helped out of their Soko launch and entry suits into more comfortable flight clothing and then brought to three separate helicopters to be flown back to Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
That's the staging city.
That's about a two-hour, 15-minute helo ride.
Once they touch down at the Karaganda airport, Don Pettit will make his way towards the NASA plane that's awaiting on the tarmac.
They'll be flown back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston with other NASA personnel.
Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner will board a Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft to be flown back to Star City, Russia, which is their training base, and where they have residence.
While the Soyuz MS-26 mission has come to a conclusion, work on board the International Space Station is continuing at a very rapid pace.
Early Monday morning is the scheduled launch of the SpaceX CRS-32 cargo mission, the Dragon that will launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket carrying some 7,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station.
NASA Plus coverage is scheduled to begin at 3:55 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday morning in the WEE hours for a launch at 4:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
That will set off about a 28-hour rendezvous sequence, culminating with a docking to the International Space Station's Harmony Module Zenith Port, the space-facing port, at 7:20 a.m. Central, at 8.20 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday morning.
Once again a view from the field in Kazakhstan of the Russian Mi-8 helicopters that have landed in a circular pattern around the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft.
Following the arrival of the SpaceX CRS-32 cargo mission to the International Space Station, this coming Thursday, April 24th at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, we will hold a spacewalk preview briefing at the Johnson Space Center looking towards a spacewalk, US EVA as it's called 93,
that is targeted for May 1st by NASA astronauts Ann McClain and Nicole Ayers to build up a mounting bracket upon which the next series of ISS rollout solar arrays will be delivered on a future flight.
They will also move a communications antenna to a different location on the space station to provide more favorable visiting vehicle communications for upcoming missions.
That will include the launch of the Japanese H-2 transfer vehicle, its new version, called the HTV-X.
This is Mission Control Houston.
Again, this live view from the landing site about 91 miles to the southeast of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
You can see on the right side of your screen amidst the Russian Mi-8 helicopters that have all landed now in the vicinity of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft.
You see that orange structure there.
That's the inflatable medical tent that the crew will be brought into.
And now we're getting video of the landing site.
There's Alexei Ovchinin, the Soyuz commander, who has been brought out of the vehicle first out 595 days in space on his four missions.
unidentified
Once again,
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
a look at Alexey Ovchinin, the veteran cosmonaut, Soyuz commander.
He was the station commander up until Friday for Expedition 72 before handing over that task to Takoya Onishi, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut.
There's a view of Bill Ingalls, the NASA chief photographer, who's right at the hatchway of the Soyuz vehicle.
unidentified
Stand by and let me take a look.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
As the search and recovery teams work to extract the other two crew members, a good view of Alexei Ovchinin, the Soyuz commander.
As mentioned earlier, touchdown occurring at 8.20 p.m. Central Time, 9.20 p.m. Eastern Time.
Soyuz vehicle was pulled over onto its side after touchdown which is not uncommon slightly closer please
Easter Sunday in Kazakhstan, Alexei Ovchinin peeling a hard-boiled egg and Don Pettit now being extracted.
Under overcast skies, the temperature is at the landing site in the high 40s Fahrenheit.
Alexei Ovchinin eating a hard-boiled egg presented to him by the search and recovery forces.
unidentified
This is
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Mission Control Houston once again.
Ovchinin and Don Pettit of NASA are out of the Soyuz vehicle.
Yvonne Wagner is the last that is in the process of being extracted.
Continuing to receive live television from the Soyuz landing site.
Alexey Ovchinin and Don Pettit out of the Soyuz vehicle.
Ivan Wagner in the process of being extracted.
unidentified
Lower, please.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Ivan Wagner now out, being placed in his chair.
unidentified
three crew members out of the Soyuz okay what are emotions What are you feeling now that you're back on Earth?
It's Easter, the 20th of April, in Audible.
Move to the side, please.
and back.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Ivan Wagner, having wrapped up his second mission in space, 416 days in all.
unidentified
to this side.
He's out of here.
He's been taken care of.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
This is Mission Control Houston.
The video again coming to you from the landing site in Kazakhstan, some 91 miles to the southeast of Jezkazgan.
A bullseye landing for the Soyuz MS-26 on Easter Sunday.
Don Pettit's 70th birthday, bringing to an end headed of Chinin and Wagner's 220-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
All of the entry and landing events occurred on time and on schedule with touchdown occurring at 8:20 p.m. Central Time, 6:20 a.m. Kazakhstan time on Sunday morning, about 56 minutes after sunrise.
unidentified
Thank you so very much.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
The crew displaying nesting or Matrushka dolls.
This is typical of all Soyuz landings, gifts to the crew members from the search and recovery teams.
And first to be carried toward the medical tent is the Soyuz commander, Alexei Ovchinin.
unidentified
First to be carried out, first to be carried out, first to be carried out.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Once inside the medical tent, the three crew members will be helped out of their Sokol launch and entry suits.
They'll move into more comfortable flight clothing and will subsequently board helicopters to be flown back to the staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
unidentified
One is
live.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Ivan Wagner taking a few sips of hot tea.
tom homan ▲ ● ▼
Now being
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
lifted and will be moved toward the medical tent to join Ovchinin.
unidentified
Wrap it up?
Oh, yeah.
mission control [houston] ▲ ● ▼
Ivan Wagner being brought into the inflatable medical tent.
John Pettit was brought into the medical tent a short time ago, joining Alexei Ovchinin.
So all three crew members now have moved into the inflatable medical tent to get out of the Sokol launch and entry suits and move into flight clothing prior to being flown by helicopter back to the staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
Once in Karaganda, Pettit will board a NASA plane to be flown back to Houston.
While Ovchinin and Wagner are flown on a Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center aircraft to Star City, Russia, their training base and home outside of Moscow.
unidentified
C-SPAN's Washington Journal, our live forum, inviting you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, and public policy, from Washington, D.C. to across the country.
Coming up Sunday morning, syndicated columnist Cal Thomas will talk about the Trump administration's actions and other political news of the day.
And then author, law professor, and ABC News legal contributor Kim Whaley on the use of executive power by the Trump administration.
C-SPAN's Washington Journal.
Join the conversation live at 7 Eastern Sunday morning on C-SPAN.
C-SPAN Now, our free mobile app, or online at c-span.org.
Sunday night on C-SPAN's Q&A.
Technology reporter Nicole Kobe, author of The Long History of the Future, talks about how technology evolves and discusses why many predicted technologies, including driverless and flying cars, smart cities, Hyperloops, and autonomous robots, haven't become a reality.
nicole kobie ▲ ● ▼
If you've ever tried to build anything, you know, whether it's like an IKEA cabinet or, you know, something a little bit more complicated than that that doesn't come with instructions, it's very difficult to build something.
So engineers who are working on these kinds of problems, you know, whether it's driverless cars or flying cars or, I don't know, even sillier ideas like Hyperloop, they're taking science that we know works and they're applying it to the real world, you know, to a physical object.
And then they're trying to build that.
And it's kind of in the details where things start to fall down a bit.
It's kind of in, you know, how you actually make it happen, the materials you choose, the business model, all of that can just kind of take something that sort of works in the lab or works in an academic paper and just make it completely fall apart, even though, you know, people have spent maybe 80 years on an idea.
unidentified
Technology reporter Nicole Kobe, Sunday night at 8 Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A. You can listen to Q ⁇ A in all of our podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts or in our free C-SPAN Now app.
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California Representative Roe Khanna talked about American economic growth and innovation during an event hosted by the City Club of Cleveland.
After his speech, he answered questions from members of Cleveland's business and civic community.
ro khanna ▲ ● ▼
Thank you.
Thank you, Mark.
Thank you for your leadership and putting the questions before us so well.
It's great to be back here in Cleveland, the place my wife, Ritu, was born and raised.
Nine years of marriage has taught me one thing.
Hope springs eternal in this town for the Cleveland Browns.
And I'm really honored.
My brother-in-law, Neil Sethi, is here.
He's not just an accomplished business leader, but an accomplished musician.
He and his family never miss a game.
And so I realize that if the game doesn't go well, the week doesn't really start till Tuesday or Wednesday.
I also appreciate Senator Turner being here.
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