A NASA astronaut is about enjoy a 17,500 mph ride home. Here’s how to watch

After eight months in orbit, NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is about to depart the International Space Station (ISS) for the journey back to Earth.

Kim will be traveling home alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky aboard the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft.

The undocking will take place on Monday evening ET, with the final descent happening later that day. Read on for full details on how to watch a livestream of the main homecoming moments.

At the time of departure, Kim’s mission will have lasted 245 days. During his time 250 miles above Earth, he’ll have have orbited Earth 3,920 times and traveled nearly 104 million miles. 

This was the first orbital adventure for both Kim and Zubritsky, and the third for Ryzhikov.

When not working on science research, Kim took time out to share posts documenting some of his experiences aboard the orbital lab. They included a stunning time-lapse of an aurora, how to vacuum in microgravity conditions, and the challenge of trying to make sushi in orbit (it didn’t look so appetizing). He did a bit better with a burger. 

How to watch

Kim, Ryzhikov, and Zubritsky will undock from the station’s Prichal module at 8:41 p.m. ET on Monday, December 8, with coverage startng at 8:15 p.m. ET.

Coverage of the spacecraft’s deorbit and landing will begin at 10:30 p.m. on Monday, with the deorbit burn expected to take place at around 11:10 p.m. ET. 

The journey home will involve the spacecraft traveling at 17,500 mph before slowing rapidly as it enters Earth’s atmosphere.

The Soyuz spacecraft’s parachute-assisted landing will take place just after midnight, at 12:04 a.m., on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan, about 1,500 miles south-east of Moscow.

You can watch NASA’s live coverage of the crew’s return on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and the space agency’s YouTube channel. You can also watch via the player embedded at the top of this page.