Soyuz Spacecraft Carrying Three Crew Members Undocks From ISS

Three crew members of the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's Oleg Kononenko, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Kjell Lindgren of the United States, are returning to the Earth on the Soyuz TMA-17M.

KOROLYOV (Moscow region) (Sputnik) — The Soyuz TMA-17M, carrying three crew members, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and is heading back toward the Earth, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Friday from the RKA Mission Control Center near Moscow.

On board the spacecraft are Russia's Oleg Kononenko, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Kjell Lindgren of the United States.

On July 23, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft successfully brought cosmonauts to the ISS.

The ISS program is a joint project among five participating space agencies: the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

The station is divided into two sections — the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS).