American, Russian prepare for Thursday return from space station

NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonaut Max Suraev are preparing to fly home early Thursday to end a more than nearly six-month stay on the International Space Station.

This morning, Williams handed over command of the science complex orbiting 220 miles above Earth to cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, who will remain aboard the station with American T.J. Creamer and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi.

The handover marked the end of Expedition 22 and the start of Expedition 23.

"Max and I leave the station in good hands with you," Williams said during the handover ceremony.

"Thank you for leaving station (in) such excellent condition," Kotov replied. "Godspeed."

You can watch the action unfold right here in The Flame Trench beginning at 12:30 a.m. as the station crews hold a farewell ceremony aboard the outpost. Click the NASA TV box on the right side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live coverage of the ceremony as well as undocking and landing. Refresh this page, too, for periodic updates.

Williams and Suraev are due to enter their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft and close the hatch at 1 a.m. EDT Thursday. They'll undock and begin a three-and-a-half hour flight home to Kazakhstan at 4 a.m.

A deorbit burn is planned at 6:34 a.m., followed by landing at 7:24 a.m. near the north-central Kazakhstan city of Arkalyk, where there is snow on the ground, strong winds and a temperature below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Williams and Suraev launched into space Sept. 30, 2009, with Canadian space tourist and Cirque du Soleil CEO Guy Laliberte. Laliberte's trip lasted 11 days. Williams and Suraev will have spent 169 days in space, 167 on the station.

Williams' third spaceflight will rank him fourth among NASA astronauts for most days lived in space with 352, trailing Peggy Whitson, Micahel Foale and Mike Fincke.

The next three members of Expedition 23 are scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome April 2 at 12:04 a.m. EDT, docking at the station two days later.

Expanding the crew to its peak long-term capacity of six people again will be cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko and American astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

Shuttle Discovery is due to visit April 7 with a crew of seven, if its April 5 launch date holds.

For a look back at Expeditions 21 and 22, check out this BlogThis!