Soyuz TMA-20 Undocks

After spending 157 days aboard the International Space Station, Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli undocked from the station's Rassvet module at 5:35 p.m. EDT to begin their voyage home.

Russian cosmonaut Kondratyev, the Soyuz commander, is at the controls of the spacecraft. He is backing the Soyuz TMA-20 away from the station and will halt it about 600 feet away. From there, Nespoli will take still photographs and video of the complex with space shuttle Endeavour attached. The station will slowly rotate 130 degrees to provide Nespoli with the best lighting and views during his photo opportunity. NASA will post the pictures and video on its website at www.nasa.gov. They are not expected to be available until mid-day Tuesday at the earliest.

Once Nespoli has completed taking pictures, Soyuz will perform a separation burn at 6:15 p.m. to increase the distance from the station before executing a deorbit burn at 9:36 p.m. The crew is scheduled to land at 10:26 p.m. southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

The departure of Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli marks the end of Expedition 27. Remaining aboard the station are Expedition 28 Russian Cosmonaut and Commander Andrey Borisenko, NASA Flight Engineer Ron Garan and Cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev. Two weeks after the Expedition 27 crew lands, Soyuz Commander Sergei Volkov, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Fossum and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on June 7. They will dock with the station and join its crew on June 9.

NASA Television will air live coverage of the Soyuz TMA-20 deorbit burn and landing beginning at 9:15 p.m.