Wednesday, March 17 on the International Space Station

Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams (right) shakes hands with Expedition 22 Flight Engineer/Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov while Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev (obscured behind Kotov), Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer look on during the change of command ceremony Wednesday aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

A change of command ceremony took place today on the International Space Station. Two crewmembers from Expedition 22 will leave Thursday morning for home.

In a brief ceremony at 8:45 a.m. EDT, Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams thanked the international ground teams and his fellow crewmates, Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi, and T.J. Creamer, before handing over command of the station to Kotov, who will lead Expedition 23 when Williams and Suraev depart.

Afterward, the crew wrapped up the day’s activities and headed off to bed for a 10-hour sleep period beginning at 10 a.m. to rest up for a busy night of departure work.

Williams and Suraev will climb aboard their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft at 11:40 p.m. Undocking is expected to take place around 4 a.m. Thursday, leading to a 7:23 a.m. landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

With frigid weather and gusty winds predicted, Russian and NASA personnel are staying overnight in nearby Arkalyk to assure a swift recovery of the crew. Weather permitting, four additional helicopters will depart from Kustanai Thursday and refuel in Arkalyk en route to the landing site to assist with the recovery.