Image: Watching A Soyuz Depart

This close-up view shows the docking mechanism of the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft as it undocks from the International Space Station’s Rassvet Mini-Research Module 1 (MRM-1) on July 1, 2012. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 31 commander; along with European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers and NASA astronaut Don Pettit, both flight engineers, are returning from more than six months aboard the space station where they served as members of the Expedition 30 and 31 crews. ISS032-E-005028 (1 July 2012) — high res (2.9 M) low res (119 K)