BY JUSTIN RAY

Follow the undocking and landing of the Expedition 14 space station crew aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Reload this page for updates.

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VIDEO: AERIAL FOOTAGE OF TOUCHDOWN PLAY
VIDEO: SOYUZ UNDOCKS FROM STATION PLAY
VIDEO: EXPEDITION 14 CREW BOARDS SOYUZ PLAY
VIDEO: FAREWELL CALL FROM RUSSIAN OFFICIALS PLAY
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MORE: EXPEDITION 14 COVERAGE
MORE: LAUNCH OF EXPEDITION 15
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2040 GMT (4:40 p.m. EDT)

The crew received a traditional welcoming by local officials in the Kazakh city of Karaganda today. They were choppered there from the landing site.

"It is impossible to describe what I feel," Michael Lopez-Alegria said. "There are a lot of special things that we each feel about our experience in space."

The landing day activities will conclude with the crew's arrival back at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. That is where the three men will be reunited with family and friends.

And check out some photos of the crewmates just after their exit from the Soyuz capsule here.

1325 GMT (9:25 a.m. EDT)

"We didn't have any problems. It wasn't as difficult as it could have been," Simonyi says of today's safe landing.

The crew has been moved to the medical tent. They will be flown from the landing site in a little while, headed for a welcoming in the city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. They'll then fly back to the cosmonaut training complex in Star City later today.

1306 GMT (9:06 a.m. EDT)

"The preliminary indication from the flight surgeons here on the ground is that all three crew members are in excellent shape," NASA spokesman Rob Navias reports from the landing site.

1258 GMT (8:58 a.m. EDT)

Michael Lopez-Alegria, having completed the longest U.S. spaceflight, is now out of the capsule. He is waving and drinking some bottled water.

The three crew members are seated in special reclining chairs near the craft for initial medical tests and to provide an opportunity to begin readapting to Earth's gravity.

A medical tent will be set up nearby the capsule in which the crew can change out of the launch and entry suits and prepare for the chopper flight away from the landing zone.

1254 GMT (8:54 a.m. EDT)

"Good to be back, good to be back on Earth," Simonyi says.

1249 GMT (8:49 a.m. EDT)

A thumbs up from Charles Simonyi after his egress from Soyuz.

1246 GMT (8:46 a.m. EDT)

Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin has exited the capsule.

1243 GMT (8:43 a.m. EDT)

Mission Control says the landing time was 8:31:30 a.m. EDT.

1239 GMT (8:39 a.m. EDT)

A video transmission from the landing site is being uplinked to the Expedition 15 crew on the space station.

"It's hard to believe we were just having tea with them a couple of hours ago," Suni Williams remarked after seeing footage of the Soyuz on the ground.

1236 GMT (8:36 a.m. EDT)

The recovery team aboard a convoy of Russian helicopters and ground vehicles has arrived at the Soyuz to begin assisting the crew out of the capsule. The Soyuz appears to have come to rest on its side, which is not uncommon.

1231 GMT (8:31 a.m. EDT)

LANDING CONFIRMED! The Russian Soyuz TMA-9 capsule has landed in central Kazakhstan, capping the 215-day voyage of Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin and the two-week adventure of tourist Charles Simonyi.

1230 GMT (8:30 a.m. EDT)

Standing by for confirmation of touchdown.

1229 GMT (8:29 a.m. EDT)

At an altitude of about 12 meters, cockpit displays will tell cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin to prepare for the soft landing engine firing. Just one meter above the surface, and just seconds before touchdown, the six solid propellant engines are fired in a final braking maneuver, enabling the Soyuz to land to complete its mission, settling down at a velocity of about 1.5 meters per second.

1225 GMT (8:25 a.m. EDT)

Now five minutes to touchdown as Soyuz descends to Kazakhstan on main parachute. Recovery teams are moving into position to welcome the capsule upon landing.

1223 GMT (8:23 a.m. EDT)

At an altitude of five kilometers, the module's heat shield is scheduled to be jettisoned. This is followed by the termination of the aerodynamic spin cycle and the dumping of any residual propellant from the Soyuz. Computers also will arm the module's seat shock absorbers in preparation for landing.

With the jettisoning of the capsule's heat shield, the Soyuz altimeter is exposed to the surface of the Earth. Using a reflector system, signals are bounced to the ground from the Soyuz and reflected back, providing the capsule's computers updated information on altitude and rate of descent.

1220 GMT (8:20 a.m. EDT)

Mission Control confirms the parachute deployment sequence is underway.

Once the drogue chute is jettisoned, the main parachute is deployed. It is connected to the Descent Module by two harnesses, covers an area of about 1,000 square meters and slows descent to 7.2 meters/second.

Initially, the Descent Module will hang underneath the main parachute at a 30-degree angle with respect to the horizon for aerodynamic stability, but the bottommost harness will be severed a few minutes before landing, allowing the Descent Module to hang vertically through touchdown.

1217 GMT (8:17 a.m. EDT)

Onboard computers should be starting a commanded sequence for deployment of the capsule's parachutes at an altitude of about 10 kilometers. Two "pilot" parachutes are unfurled first, extracting a 24-square-meter drogue parachute. Within 16 seconds, the craft's fall will slow from 230 meters per second to about 80 m/s.

The parachute deployment creates a gentle spin for the Soyuz as it dangles underneath the drogue chute, assisting in the capsule's stability in the final minutes before touchdown.

1214 GMT (8:14 a.m. EDT)

The crew should be feeling the period of maximum G-loads -- four or five times normal Earth gravity -- during entry.

1210 GMT (8:10 a.m. EDT)

Twenty minutes to landing. The Soyuz is making its fiery plunge into the atmosphere.

1209 GMT (8:09 a.m. EDT)

Entry Interface. The Soyuz is now hitting the upper fringes of the atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet above Africa. The Expedition 14 crew will soon begin to feel the first tugs of Earth's gravity after seven months in space.

The entry guidance by the spacecraft's onboard software package is scheduled to start in a couple of minutes.

1206 GMT (8:06 a.m. EDT)

Separation of the Soyuz modules has occurred. The three segments of the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft have jettisoned apart, allowing the crew-carrying Descent Module to safely ferry the three crew members back to Earth. The no-longer-needed Orbital Module and Instrumentation/Propulsion Module are designed to burn up in the atmosphere.

1200 GMT (8:00 a.m. EDT)

Time to touchdown is 30 minutes. The crew members are closing their helmet visors.

Just above the first traces of the Earth's atmosphere, computers will command the separation of the three modules of the Soyuz vehicle. With the crew strapped in to the Descent Module, the forward Orbital Module containing the docking mechanism and rendezvous antennas and the rear Instrumentation/Propulsion Module, which houses the engines and avionics, will pyrotechnically separate and burn up in the atmosphere.

The Descent Module's computers will orient the capsule with its ablative heat shield pointing forward to repel the buildup of heat as it plunges into the atmosphere. Entry interface at the upper fringes of the atmosphere, when the capsule is about 400,000 feet above the Earth, happens about three minutes after module separation.

1150 GMT (7:50 a.m. EDT)

Flight controllers say the deorbit burn was nominal. Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin and tourist Charles Simonyi are homeward bound.

1146 GMT (7:46 a.m. EDT)

BURN COMPLETE! The Soyuz has performed its braking maneuver, committing the craft for entry into the atmosphere. Touchdown is 44 minutes away.

1144 GMT (7:44 a.m. EDT)

The crew indicates the burn is progressing well.

1142 GMT (7:42 a.m. EDT)

BURN IGNITION! Thrusters on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft are firing to brake from orbit. This deorbit burn is expected to last four minutes and 18 seconds to put the capsule on a course for the trip back to Earth.

The craft is flying backward over the southern Atlantic Ocean on a northeasterly trajectory bound for Africa and eventually Central Asia where landing is expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT in central Kazakhstan.

1119 GMT (7:19 a.m. EDT)

The Soyuz is about 11 miles from the station, NASA says. No problems are being reported by the crew as clocks count down to ignition of the capsule's deorbit burn.

0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT)

The 15-second separation burn by the Soyuz's thrusters has been completed. The spacecraft is quickly moving away from the outpost. The deorbit burn is coming up at 7:42 a.m., with landing in Kazakhstan still expected at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

0911 GMT (5:11 a.m. EDT)

UNDOCKING. The Soyuz spacecraft has separated from the space station, setting the stage for today's return to Earth. The undocking has occurred over eastern Asia.

0909 GMT (5:09 a.m. EDT)

The undocking command has been issued. Hooks and latches holding the Soyuz and station tightly together are being opened now.

0605 GMT (2:05 a.m. EDT)

Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria, flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin and tourist Charles Simonyi have boarded the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule attached to the aft-end of the space station in preparation for today's undocking and return to Earth.

After exchanging final hugs with the station's new residents, the three men floated into the Soyuz from the Zvezda living quarters module. Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin closed the hatchway at about 2:04 a.m. EDT.

"Thank you very much for the hospitality. I enjoyed working here and working with the excellent crews and commanders," Simonyi said in the farewell ceremony with Russian controllers earlier this morning.

"I'm looking forward to the return flight. It is a bittersweet moment for all of us. We are very sad leaving the station but at the same time looking forward to continuing our work on Earth."

Undocking is scheduled for 5:11 a.m., with landing anticipated at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2007

A record-setting NASA astronaut, his Russian cosmonaut crewmate and a billionaire American tourist will leave the International Space Station and return to Earth on Saturday, landing on the steppes of central Asia inside their parachute-equipped descent capsule.

Landing morning begins with Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin, along with visiting tourist Charles Simonyi, saying their goodbyes to the station's new crew -- Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineers Oleg Kotov and Suni Williams -- and then floating into the Soyuz TMA-9 craft currently docked to the station's Zvezda service module aft port.

The seven-month Expedition 14 mission is concluding with Lopez-Alegria now holding the record for the longest U.S. spaceflight. He also moved atop the American spacewalker stats for the most EVAs - 10 - performed by one astronaut.

"We have very mixed emotions about leaving, but it doesn't matter what we think - it is time," Lopez-Alegria told mission control CAPCOM astronaut Shannon Lucid this morning.

"I just want to pass on for the whole crew that we've had a blast. It's been a short seven months in a way, but it's time to come home and hand over the torch to the next crew, whom I'm sure will be up for the challenge and continue the development and construction of the space station and all of the good things that are going on up here. It's been our pleasure."

"Speaking for everyone down here, it has been a double pleasure for us to work with (the) Expedition 14 crew and you," Lucid replied.

The hatchway between the station and Soyuz is expected to be closed around 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT). The homeward-bound crew will work together for a next couple of hours to power up the Soyuz, active the craft's systems, remove docking clamps, depressurize the vestibule between the capsule and station and perform other work to ready for undocking.

Yurchikhin, Kotov and Simonyi launched to the station two weeks ago Saturday aboard Soyuz TMA-10. After the brief stay, Simonyi is going home while Expedition 15 is left behind for a half-year tour-of-duty on the outpost.

The command to begin opening hooks and latches firmly holding Soyuz to its docking port will be sent at 5:08:30 a.m. EDT (0908:30 GMT). Physical separation between the two craft occurs three minutes later.

After moving a short distance from the station, the Soyuz engines will fire for 15 seconds to execute the so-called separation burn to propel the craft out of the orbiting lab's vicinity.

About two-and-a-half hours later, the capsule's engines will ignite for the deorbit burn to brake from space. The onboard computers will initiate an engine firing at 7:42:30 a.m. EDT (1142:30 GMT) that slows the ship just enough to slip out of orbit for the return to Earth. The burn will last four minutes and 18 seconds.

Shortly before reaching the top of the atmosphere, the Soyuz's three distinct modules will separate at 8:05:37 a.m. EDT (1205:37 GMT) under computer command. The crew will be located in the Descent Module, which is sandwiched between the forward Orbital Module containing the docking mechanism and the rear Instrumentation and Propulsion Module housing the engines and avionics.

The Descent Module orients itself to point the ablative heat shield in the direction of travel to protect the craft and crew from the intense plunge back to Earth. At 8:08:29 a.m. EDT (1208:29 GMT), the moment of Entry Interface occurs as the capsule hits the upper fringes of the atmosphere for the fiery re-entry.

During the fall to Earth, the Orbital Module and Instrumentation and Propulsion Module will burn up in the atmosphere.

Six minutes after Entry Interface, the crew will experience the period of maximum G-loads during entry as they feel the tug of Earth's gravity for the first time since launch.

At 8:16:33 a.m. EDT (1216:33 GMT), the onboard computers will start a commanded sequence for deployment of the capsule's parachutes at an altitude of about 10 kilometers. Two "pilot" parachutes are unfurled first, extracting a 24-square-meter drogue parachute. Within 16 seconds, the craft's fall will slow from 230 meters per second to about 80 m/s.

The parachute deployment creates a gentle spin for the Soyuz as it dangles underneath the drogue chute, assisting in the capsule's stability in the final minutes before touchdown.

The drogue chute will be jettisoned, allowing the main parachute to be deployed. It is connected to the Descent Module by two harnesses, covers an area of about 1,000 square meters and slows descent to 7.2 meters/second.

Initially, the Descent Module will hang underneath the main parachute at a 30-degree angle with respect to the horizon for aerodynamic stability, but the bottommost harness will be severed a few minutes before landing, allowing the Descent Module to hang vertically through touchdown.

At an altitude of just over 5 kilometers, the heat shield will be cast free. That is followed by dumping of any residual propellant from the Soyuz.

Once the heat shield is gone, the Soyuz altimeter is exposed to the surface of the Earth. Using a reflector system, signals are bounced to the ground from the Soyuz and reflected back, providing the capsule's computers updated information on altitude and rate of descent.

At an altitude of about 12 meters, cockpit displays will tell the crew to prepare for the soft landing engine firing. Just one meter above the surface, and just seconds before touchdown, the six solid propellant engines are fired in a final braking maneuver, enabling the Soyuz to land to complete its mission, settling down at a velocity of about 1.5 meters per second.

Touchdown is expected at 8:30:34 a.m. EDT (1230:34 GMT) on the steppes of central Kazakhstan, about two hours before sunset at the landing site. Expedition 14 concludes with a duration of 215 days, 8 hours, 21 minutes and 54 seconds.

The crew received a bonus day in space following the decision earlier this week to delay the landing from Friday to Saturday. The change in plans was necessary to retarget the touchdown to the Soyuz's southern landing zone, which wasn't accessible on Friday.

"The decision to move the landing to Saturday and further to the south came after a helicopter surveillance of Central Kazakhstan last weekend by the Russian search and recovery forces, which revealed standing snow and flooding in the regular landing region near Arkalyk," NASA spokesman Rob Navias explained.

"The (new) landing site to the southwest of the large industrial city of Karaganda and to the northeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan is dry."

A group of Russian military helicopters carrying the recovery forces, including a U.S. flight surgeon and astronaut support personnel, should arrive soon after landing to help the crew exit the capsule.

Each crew member will be placed in special reclining chairs near the capsule for initial medical tests and begin readapting to Earth's gravity. They will be transferred into a portable medical tent erected near the touchdown point where the three crew members can remove their spacesuits.

Post-landing plans call for the crew to be flown from the site in helicopters.