A NASA astronaut will soon fly home to Earth in a Russian spacecraft. Here’s how to watch.

Late on Tuesday night, Mark Vande Hei, like many NASA astronauts earlier than him, will enter a Russian spacecraft docked on the Worldwide Area Station for the return journey to Earth.

The house station, orbiting about 250 miles above the floor, is among the few locations the place day-to-day cooperation between america and Russia continues regardless of the disruption of diplomatic and financial ties due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

About eight hours later, Mr. Vande Hei and two Russian astronauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, are to bump to a touchdown in Kazakhstan, met by NASA and Russian personnel.

“Like we’ve at all times carried out,” Joel Montalbano, the house station program supervisor for NASA, mentioned throughout a information convention a few weeks in the past.

When is the departure and the way can I watch it?

The departure will start at 11:30 p.m. Jap time when Mr. Vande Hei, Mr. Shkaplerov and Mr. Dubrov say their farewells to the opposite seven astronauts nonetheless aboard the station. At midnight on Wednesday, they’re to shut the hatch of the Soyuz spacecraft that can carry them dwelling.

NASA will stream the hatch closure and different elements of the departure and return on its web site and on YouTube.

Are the U.S. and Russia nonetheless cooperating in house?

President Biden has harshly condemned President Vladimir V. Putin, and america authorities has positioned a variety of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, together with some associated to aerospace applied sciences. However cooperation in orbit has continued.

That’s regardless of bellicose statements from Dmitry Rogozin, who leads the Russian house program. He shared a video that prompt the Russians may go away Mr. Vande Hei behind. NASA officers have rigorously sidestepped what Mr. Rogozin has mentioned and insisted that nothing has modified.

“For the protection of our astronauts, the working relationship between NASA and our worldwide companions continues,” Invoice Nelson, the NASA administrator, mentioned throughout his State of NASA speech on Monday. “And that features the skilled relationship between the cosmonauts and our astronauts.”

Different relationships in house haven’t been spared. The European Area Company postponed a rover mission to Mars as a result of it relied on a Russian rocket. And a British satellite tv for pc web firm, OneWeb, canceled a sequence of launches that used Russia’s Soyuz rockets, shifting a few of them to SpaceX rockets.

What occurs when the astronauts land?

Many American authorities officers have been introduced dwelling from Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine. However a typical NASA contingent of flight docs, public affairs officers and representatives from the astronaut workplace and the house station administration can be there to fulfill Mr. Vande Hei when he lands.

“No deviation from earlier Soyuz touchdown return plans,” mentioned Gary Jordan, a NASA spokesman.

After preliminary medical checks, the astronauts will relaxation for some time in tents earlier than touring by helicopter to the airport the place Mr. Vande Hei and his NASA colleagues will board a Gulfstream jet and take off.

Mr. Jordan mentioned a NASA podcast episode that described an earlier return was “an correct depiction of the sequence of occasions that needs to be anticipated.”

About 24 hours after touchdown in Kazakhstan, Mr. Vande Hei will again in Houston.

How lengthy has Mark Vande Hei been in orbit?

The touchdown will finish almost a 12 months in house for Mr. Vande Hei. His keep of 355 days is the longest single spaceflight by an American. That handed the mark of 340 days set by Scott Kelly six years in the past.

“The final day is totally different,” Mr. Kelly recalled in regards to the finish of his house journey in an interview.

The ultimate chores included cleansing up his space for the following astronaut, throwing away unneeded gadgets and getting in contact with family and friends about plans again on the bottom.