Soyuz MS-16 With ISS Crew To Return To Earth On October 12 Landing In Kazakhstan - NASA

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2020) The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner and US astronaut Christopher Cassidy is set to return to Earth on October 22 after a six-month mission to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.

The spacecraft, which has become the first vessel with a crew flying on a Soyuz-2.1a carrier, consisting exclusively of Russian components, was launched successfully from the Baikonur spaceport on April 9.

"[On October 22], NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian space agency Roscosmos cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner return to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft, landing in Kazakhstan," the website says.

According to the US space agency's website, the spacecraft's undocking from the ISS is scheduled for 23:32 GMT on October 21, while the landing for 02:57 on October 22 in the area of the city of Zhezqazghan in Kazakhstan, with the mission lasting 196 days.

In addition, NASA said that another Soyuz spacecraft with US astronaut Kate Rubins, as well as Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov aboard were set to fly to the ISS on October 14.