Space Station Live: Preparing for the Ride Home on a Soyuz Spacecraft

NASA Public Affairs Officer Kelly Humphries interviews astronaut Shannon Walker who served as an Expedition 24/25 flight engineer in 2010. She talks about preparations station crew members make before leaving the International Space Station. She also describes what the crew is experiencing in the Soyuz spacecraft when the vehicle undocks and lands. Just before re-entering the atmosphere the Soyuz vehicle separates into three modules with the descent module returning the three crewmembers to Earth. The orbital module, filled with trash, and the propulsion and instrumentation module are destroyed during the fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. As the descent module descends into the atmosphere the Soyuz deploys its parachutes. An instant before the Soyuz hits the ground it fires rockets to soften the landing in Kazakhstan. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sta... Watch the full Space Station Live broadcast weekdays on NASA TV at 10 a.m. CDT. For more information on science and operations aboard the station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.