British astronaut Tim Peake has begun his hair-raising journey at 22 times the speed of sound back from the International Space Station.
The trip began with a four minute 37 second rocket motor blast - or "deorbit burn" - that set his spacecraft on track for re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
On re-entry the small capsule will slow dramatically from 17,398mph to just over 500mph, raising the outside temperature to 1,600C.
The rapid deceleration will push the crew back into their shock-absorbing seats with a force of up to five gee - five times normal Earth gravity.
Major Peake and his two crew mates, American Nasa astronaut Colonel Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, are expected to parachute down on to the vast flat scrubland of the Kazakhstan steppe at about 11am.
Soon after 3am, UK time, the crew members scrambled from the ISS into the Soyuz TMA-19M space vehicle that took them into orbit on December 15 last year.
Closing the hatch marked the official end of Major Peake's historic mission, which earned him an honour from the Queen for "extraordinary service beyond our planet".
At exactly 6.52am, UK time, sprung hooks were released to undock and free the Soyuz.
An outside camera showed the toy-like spacecraft backing out from the space station with the Earth turning slowly below.
Then as the Soyuz moved further away, assisted by two rocket engine burns, a trick of perspective made it appear as if the astronauts were heading for the moon.
