Soyuz MS-23 Spacecraft Undocks From ISS as it Prepares to Return to Earth

Sputnik goes live as the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station and returns to Earth. The spacecraft, carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, is scheduled to land southeast of the city of Zhezkazhan in Kazakhstan.

Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio were originally planned to stay on Earth's orbit for 188 days, but had to extend their mission, as Soyuz MS-22, a spacecraft which had been expected to take them back to Earth, was damaged in December and could no longer be used for its intended purpose. The total duration of their mission on the ISS will amount to over 370 days, which is a new world record for the duration of a space flight.