Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, who has been in space for about half a year, will board a spacecraft on the night of the 11th, Japan time, and will then leave the International Space Station.
The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on the night of the 12th.
The four astronauts, including Satoshi Furukawa, who arrived at the International Space Station in August last year, will return to Earth after a stay of more than six months.
The four people boarded the spacecraft on the night of the 11th, Japan time, and the hatch separating the space station and spacecraft was closed just after 10 p.m.
After this, the spacecraft will leave the space station and splash down off the coast of Florida in the southern United States around 6:30 pm Japan time on the 12th.
This is Mr. Furukawa's second time in space, and he has been involved in a variety of activities, including experiments to create high-quality protein crystals that will lead to the development of new drugs, and experiments with an eye toward future exploration of the Moon and Mars.
At the end of his stay, Mr. Furukawa said, ``It feels like just yesterday that I arrived here, so I'm disappointed. I want to share the results of the mission even after I return to Earth.''