NASA astronaut Terry Virts, the commander of the International Space Station’s Expedition 43, thanks his ground support team, crewmates and family back on Earth as he hands over command of the vehicle to the next commander and nears the end of a mission of nearly 200 days in space, which will come with his return to Earth in a Soyuz spacecraft on Thursday, June 11, 2015. Expedition 44 begins with the departure from the station of Virts and his crewmates; cosmonaut Gennady Padalka of Roscosmos takes over as commander of Expedition 44, his fourth time to command the station.