Soyuz Spacecraft Departs ISS with Two Cosmonauts and One Astronaut

On September 23, the Russian Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft disembarked from the International Space Station (ISS), commencing its journey back to Earth. This mission includes two cosmonauts and one NASA astronaut onboard.

The Soyuz spacecraft detached from the ISS’s Prichal module at approximately 4:36 a.m. EDT. Astronaut Tracy Dyson and cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko were aboard the spacecraft. Soyuz MS-25 is expected to land by parachute in the vicinity of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

During their time on the ISS, Kononenko and Chub set a new record for the longest single mission at the space station, spending an impressive 374 days in space. This achievement surpasses the previous record held by cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, along with NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in orbit from September 2022 to September 2023.

Oleg Kononenko has an extensive history in space travel, holding the record for the most cumulative time spent in space, totaling 1,111 days.

Tracy Dyson, having spent 184 days in space, arrived at the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-25 in March alongside cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya from Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya returned to Earth after 12 days on Soyuz MS-24, allowing Dyson to continue his mission.

Looking ahead, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to join the remaining ISS crew. They will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, with an expected arrival on Saturday as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

This upcoming mission marks a significant milestone as it will be the first human spaceflight to launch from the Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA is gearing up for this exciting event as it continues its collaboration with private aerospace companies to expand human presence in space.