The International Space Station's latest expedition officially began today after Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency left the space station for earth.

The two flight crew members, embarking on Expedition 52 having arrived on Expedition 51, bade an emotional goodbye as NASA astronaut and Expedition 51 Commander Peggy Whitson hugged them before the closing of the hatch that separated the space station from the capsule that would carry the men home to earth.

Command of the International Space Station was handed over to Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin today.

The Soyuz MS-03 space capsule undocked from the International Space Station with the crew members Oleg Novitskiy of Russia and Thomas Pesquet of France heading back to earth.