Three astronauts return to Earth after 167 days aboard the ISS

A Soyuz capsule carrying one American and two Russians from aboard the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in Kazakhstan on Thursday, thus ending the trio’s six month long space sojourn. The three who had blasted off for the ISS on Sep 26 are Russians Alexander Samokutayev and Elena Serova and NASA’s Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore.

Expedition 42 members who landed back on Earth after spending 167 days on the orbiting laboratory complex had undocked from the at 6:44 p.m. ET Wednesday, leaving behind American, Italian and Russian crewmates.

They were scheduled to touchdown at 10.07 p.m. ET, after a parachute aided 249 mile free fall. The first to be removed from the capsule was Samokutyaev followed by Wilmore, the outgoing International Space Station commander. The last to be removed was the female aboard, Elena Serova.

The journey back to the home planet took nearly 45 minutes. The atmosphere helped slow the Soyuz down until parachutes opened and the spacecraft glided to a landing. After that, the astronauts were taken to recliner-style chairs set up near the capsule, to begin their readjustment to gravity and undergo brief medical tests. Till the reports last came in, all three appeared to be healthy.

With these three having come back, there are three people left behind on the ISS. They will soon be joined by three more within two weeks (March 27, to be pecise). Two of those – Scott Kelly (NASA) and Mikhail Kornienko – are scheduled to spend a full year on the ISS.