Astronaut Pettit, 2 cosmonauts undock from the International Space Station

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft successfully undocked from the International Space Station and is now en route back to Earth after departing with NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner. The crew left the ISS aboard the spacecraft at 5:57 p.m. EDT and are expected to land in Kazakhstan at 9:20 p.m. EDT on Sunday, completing their 220-day space mission. During their time on Expedition 72, they conducted various experiments related to life support systems, genetic sequencing, and pharmaceutical manufacturing that could have applications on Earth. This marks Pettit’s fourth spaceflight and Ovchinin and Vagner’s multiple missions, totaling days spent in space. The crew will return to Earth via parachute landing in Kazakhstan, with Pettit heading to Houston and Ovchinin and Vagner continuing to a training base in Star City, Russia. NASA will broadcast the spacecraft’s landing online at NASA+ starting at 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday.