Rizikov, Zubritsky, and Kim moved to the ‘Soyuz MS-27’ spacecraft from the International Space Station before returning to Earth. They bid farewell to the astronauts remaining on the station and then closed the hatches between ‘Soyuz’ and the International Space Station. Rizikov and Zubritsky conducted two spacewalks on October 16 and 28. During the first spacewalk, they installed the ‘Ekraan-M’ device on the multifunctional laboratory module ‘Nauka’ to conduct the ‘MLE’ (Molecular Layering Experiment) for growing semiconductors in open space. During the second spacewalk, Zubritsky and Rizikov installed a pulsed plasma injector for the ‘Impulse’ experiment, cleaned the ‘Nauka’ window, and replaced a cartridge in the ‘Ekraan-M’ device used for semiconductor cultivation. They also addressed some observations noted during the first two weeks of the experiment’s operation. Additionally, the astronauts transferred the external EMMI control panel for the ‘ERA’ robotic arm. Rizikov and Zubritsky, along with Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov (who arrived on the American Crew Dragon spacecraft), recorded the first video in a series about rocket and space technologies for the visually impaired and blind. They provided audio descriptions of Earth’s beauty and how its various terrain features appear from 400 kilometers up. The ‘Soyuz-2.1a’ rocket launched the spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on April 8, 2025, at 08:47 Moscow time, and at 11:58 of the same day, the ‘Soyuz MS-27’ docked with the International Space Station. This mission was the third spaceflight for spacecraft commander Rizikov, who had spent 358 days in orbit during his first two flights, while it was the first space journey for both Zubritsky and Kim.
