space
NASA astronaut, 2 cosmonauts return to Earth after eight-month stay International Space Station
Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut closed out a 241-day stay aboard the International Space Station early Sunday with a fiery plunge back to Earth and an on-target touchdown on the broad steppe of Kazakhstan.
TL;DR
- Soyuz MS-28/74S capsule carrying commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, flight engineer Sergey Mikaev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams landed in Kazakhstan.
- The mission duration was 241 days, covering 3,856 orbits and 102 million miles.
- The crew undocked from the ISS and after re-entry, landed with rocket-assisted touchdown.
- Recovery crews assisted the astronauts, who were given welcome home gifts of personalized Russian matryoshka dolls.
- Williams and Mikaev completed their first space flights, while Kud-Sverchkov completed his second.
- During the mission, crew members participated in spacewalks for maintenance and equipment installation.
- Astronaut Chris Williams expressed his lifelong fascination with space exploration and his appreciation for viewing Earth from orbit.