Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin announced his retirement and Soyuz MS-19 cosmonaut crew welcomed at GCTC. Mark Vande Hei arrives in Houston.
Today, March 31, 2022, Cosmonaut Alexander Alexandrovich Misurkin announced his last working day, today at the CPC (Mission Control Center). He completes his activity in the cosmonaut corps of Roscosmos. Alexander Misurkin - 116th cosmonaut of the Russian Federation / 528th - of the world. He joined the cosmonaut corps in 2006. Completed three space flights, the total duration of which is 346 days 07 hours 04 minutes. Made four spacewalks. The Roscosmos management thank Alexander Alexandrovich for his great contribution to the development and popularization of domestic cosmonautics, note his high professionalism, competence, responsibility and wish him success in his future activities!
He also completed his recent visit to International Space Station 08 December 2021, with two Japanese Tourists; Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his manager Yozo Hirano onboard the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft for Space Adventures, the crew short-stay for a week, spending time with Expedition-66 crew.
Meanwhile, Soyuz-MS19 return crew; Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov who stayed for 355 days in space on his first mission, arrived at Star City early today. They were received by the heads and employees of the CPC, representatives of Roscosmos and RSC Energia.
NASA's Record Setting Astronaut, Mark Vande Hei bid adieu to the cosmonaut crew and flies back to Houston, on the night of March 30.
The return of this crew from orbit was a long-awaited event for the participants of the Challenge project - actress Yulia Peresild and film director Klim Shipenko, as well as for their backups Alyona Mordovina and Alexei Dudin came to Star City to meet Anton Shkaplerov, who delivered the film crew to the ISS in October 2021. Recall that for 12 days a feature film was being shot in orbit, all Russian cosmonauts working at the station, including Pyotr Dubrov, were involved in them. Therefore, the movie crew were sincerely glad to meet both cosmonauts. In the near future, the cosmonauts will undergo medical examination and rehabilitation, as well as participate in post-flight scientific experiments. A post-flight press conference with the participation of Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov is scheduled for April 4, 2022.
Mark Vande Hei arrived at Houston
NASA Astronaut Mark Vande Hei is back in Houston. His journey began aboard the International Space Station, where he spent 355 days supporting his mission. Vande Hei and his crewmates then landed in Kazakhstan at 7:28 a.m. ET on March 30. He arrived back in Houston on March 31.
On Tuesday, April 5
10 a.m. EDT (14:00 UTC) – NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will participate in post-flight news conference
Last updated; 18;30 UTC, March 31,2022