NASA astronaut Chris Williams and crewmates to return from ISS on July 26

NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts are set to return to Earth on Sunday, July 26, after spending 241 days aboard the International Space Station. The trio will undock from the station's Rassvet module at 3:02 a.m. EDT and land on the steppe of Kazakhstan southeast of Dzhezkazgan at 6:26 a.m. (3:26 p.m. local time). Their Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft will use parachutes to slow its descent.

The returning crew includes NASA's Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev. This mission marks the first spaceflight for Williams and Mikaev, while Kud-Sverchkov is making his second trip to orbit. During their stay, the crew completed 3,856 orbits and traveled more than 102 million miles. Their departure will officially begin Expedition 75, with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir taking over command of the station from Kud-Sverchkov.

The return matters because it concludes a long-duration mission that contributes to NASA's understanding of human spaceflight and prepares for future missions to the Moon and Mars. After landing, the crew will be flown by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are based. Williams will then return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, while the cosmonauts head to their training base in Star City, Russia.

NASA will provide live coverage of the return starting Saturday, July 25, with the change of command ceremony at 9:40 a.m. EDT. Hatch closing coverage begins at 11:10 p.m. Saturday, followed by undocking coverage at 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Deorbit burn coverage starts at 5:15 a.m., with landing at 6:26 a.m. All times are Eastern and subject to change.

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 25 years, hosting research that advances scientific knowledge and supports long-duration missions. NASA's Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon, with the station serving as a testbed for technologies needed for deep space exploration.