NASA's Chris Williams to return from ISS with two cosmonauts on July 26: How to watch livestream

Three astronauts are returning to Earth on July 26 after spending eight months in space. NASA’s Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev are scheduled to depart from the International Space Station (ISS) at 3:03 a.m. EDT and land at 6:25 a.m. in Kazakhstan.

The trio flew to the orbital lab on November 27, 2025, from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Soyuz spacecraft under the MS-28 mission and are returning after handing over their responsibilities to the MS-29 crew. 

When and where to watch their return live? 

NASA will start the coverage with the change of command ceremony at 9:40 am on July 25—this is when Kud-Sverchkov will pass over the command of the station to NASA astronaut and Crew-12 commander Jessica Meir, who will lead Expedition 75. 

The coverage of crew farewell will begin at 11:10 pm, shortly after which at 11:30 pm, the hatch of the Soyuz spacecraft carrying the trio will be closed for undocking. At 2:30 am on July 16, the coverage of undocking will begin, and the spacecraft will undock from the station’s Rassvet module at 3:03 am. The coverage will resume at 5:15 am for the deorbit burn, which is scheduled at 5:31 am, and the landing at 6:25 am. You can watch the event live on Amazon Prime, YouTube, X, and NASA+. 

MS-28 crew to return after 3,856 orbits of Earth 

The MS-28 mission was the debut flight for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud‑Sverchkov. By the time they land, the trio will have completed 3,856 orbits and traveled more than 102 million miles. “After landing, the crew will fly by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are based. Williams then will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Kud‑Sverchkov and Mikaev head back to their training base in Star City, Russia,” NASA said in a release. 

During his stay, NASA says Williams contributed to research for new cancer treatments, advanced the production of materials to improve computers and electronics, supported studies on how microgravity affects human health, and conducted two spacewalks for repair work on the robotic arm, Canadarm2, and to ready the orbital laboratory for the installation of new solar arrays.

Bidding farewell to the MS-28 crew are seven astronauts—Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot, Andrey Fedyaev, Anil Menon, Anna Kikina, and Pyotr Dubrov. Menon, Kikina, and Dubrov make up the MS-29 crew, which arrived at the station on July 14 and is replacing Williams’ team. The MS-29 crew will also spend up to eight months in space. The next batch of astronauts returning would be Crew-12, which was launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on February 13.

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