"The Soft Landing Is Not Really Soft"

Every few months, astronauts from the International Space Station leave their orbiting aerie and return to Earth*. It's a very exciting time for space exploration aficionados like me; we hang on every communication from the ground to space, wait for every checklist item to be confirmed, and if we're so fortunate, hang on to any live video we can find. For the astronauts and ground controllers, of course, the experience is far different. But what exactly happens up there that results in three ast...