ISS crew have farewell supper, begin to reactivate Soyuz.

MOSCOW, December 1 (Itar-Tass) - The combined crew of the
International Space Station (ISS) have had a farewell supper ahead of
Roman Romanenko, Frank De Winne, and Robert Thirsk transfer to the Soyuz
spaceship for a return journey on the way home, Valery Lyndin, spokesman
of the Flight Control Center outside Moscow, has told Itar-Tass.
"After the supper, the crew began to reactivate the Soyuz TMA-15
spaceship docked with the ISS," Lyndin said. The cosmonauts checked the
functioning of the spaceship's systems and transferred packing cases with
the results of biological experiments to it. "Some cases have been kept in
refrigerators right up to the crew's transfer to the descent module," the
expert pointed out.
Soyuz hatches are to be closed at about four a.m. Tuesday. Three hours
later, the spaceship will undock from the ISS, at 06:56, Moscow time,
Lyndin specified. Within the period the cosmonauts are to check the
air-tightness of the hatches, don spacesuits, and finalise the preparation
of the spaceship fro descent to Earth.
Immediately after separation from the station, an automatic programme
will come into play to guide the spaceship for over three hours to the
planned landing site, located 84 km north of the Kazakhstani city of
Arkalyk. Fifty minutes prior to landing, the spaceship's motor will
operate for deceleration. Landing is scheduled for 10:16 Moscow time.
Romanneko, De Winne, and Thirsk have worked in orbit for over 187
days. Following their return to Earth, only two cosmonauts will remain
aboard the station: Maxim Surayev and Jeffrey Williams who had arrived at
the ISS early in October. This will happen for the first time over the
past two years. Their "solitary journey" will continue until December 23
when another three cosmonauts will be brought to orbit by the Russian
Soyuz TMA-17 spaceship.
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