VIRGO:
Three crewmembers will depart the International Space Station on Saturday (Sept. 2) and return to Earth. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will return
from her record-smashing mission along with her Expedition 52 crewmates, NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.
Watch the crew take off in their Soyuz spacecraft and land in Kazakhstan live here at Space.com, or tune in live to NASA TV.
At 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Saturday (Sept. 2), NASA TV will kick off their coverage of the return by broadcasting live coverage of the Soyuz MS-04
crew saying farewell to their Expedition 52/53 crewmates at the space station before they enter the space capsule and close the hatch. At 2:40 p.m.
EDT (1840 GMT), they'll close the hatch and begin preparing for departure. [Space Station Photos: Expedition 52 Crew in Orbit]
The Soyuz will undock from the space station at 5:58 p.m. EDT (1758 GMT), and the crew will start their 3.5-hour descent to Earth. At 8:29 p.m. EDT
(0029 GMT on Sept. 3), when the Soyuz is approximately 12 miles away from the space station, its engines will fire for a short deorbit burn. About
half an hour later, the crew will enter the atmosphere and the Soyuz will deploy parachutes, which will allow the crew to gently float down to Earth.
At 9:22 p.m. EDT (0122 GMT on Sept. 3), they'll touch down in Kazakhstan.