KOROLYOV, 6 April (BelTA) – All the ground services stand ready for the return of the crew with Belarus’ first cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya from orbit to Earth, a BelTA journalist reports from Roscosmos’ mission control center.
According to the latest data, the reentry module of the crew transfer vehicle Soyuz MS-24 is expected to land at 10:18 Minsk time. The standard procedure will place the reentry module 147km to the southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. In addition to Marina Vasilevskaya the Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and the NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara will get back to Earth.
Search and rescue teams are fully ready to welcome the cosmonauts on the ground. The teams include medics and about 200 Russian military personnel. They are fitted with Mi-8 helicopters, An-12 and An-26 aircraft, ground vehicles, including the search and evacuation vehicles PEM-1 and PEM-2 Blue Bird. They maintain air watch and ground watch near the main landing area and the backup landing area – the population centers Zhezkazgan and Arkalyk – in order to find the reentry vehicle on time and ensure the safety of the Soyuz MS-24 crew.
The Soyuz MS-24 crew transfer vehicle undocked from the International Space Station at 6:54 today.
