Onboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft are U.S. commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, Russian flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin, and U.S. spaceflight participant Charles Simonyl. As they undocked, the Expedition 15 crew rang the ship’s bell indicating the departure of the Expedition 14 crewmembers from the space station.

An approximate three-minute burn has been completed to separate the Soyuz from the space station.

Both spacecraft are now in separate orbits about the Earth.

At approximately 6:42 a.m. CDT, the de-orbit burn is scheduled to take place with an resulting landing at about 7:30 a.m. CDT on the Russian steppes (semi-desert areas) of Kazakhstan, a country that stretches over a large area of northern and central Eurasia.

Coverage of the de-orbit burn will be shown live on NASA TV starting at 6:15 a.m. CDT.

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