A three-person crew from the International Space Station (ISS) has landed safely in Kazakhstan after a longer than expected orbital stint.
Nasa's Terry Virts, Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov returned to Earth after 199 days on the station, nearly a month more than planned.
The belated homecoming leaves Cristoforetti as the new record-holder for the single longest spaceflight by a woman, eclipsing Nasa’s Sunita William’s 195-day flight in 2006-2007.
Their capsule landed on schedule about 145km (90 miles) southeast of Dzhezkazgan.
The mission’s extension was caused by the failed launch of a Russian cargo ship in April.
The Soyuz rocket that failed in April is used to launch spacecraft carrying crew, so Russian officials delayed the crew’s return and further launches pending an investigation.
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a satellite last week, and a new crew is set to head to the station in July.
The astronauts climbed into a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on Thursday and left the ISS after 199 full days in orbit to begin their delayed return to Earth, Nasa Television showed.
Virts, the expedition’s commander, gave a hearty hug to three crewmen remaining aboard the ISS, before the astronauts sealed themselves into the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft shortly after 7am.
Three hours later the Soyuz undocked from the Rassvet module at the $100 billion space outpost, aiming to land in central Kazakhstan at around 2pm.
“All Soyuz systems are operating in excellent fashion. No issues whatsoever at this stage,” Russia’s mission control near Moscow reported as the spacecraft floated away from the ISS.
Year-long stay
The crew’s departure left Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly on their own until at least July 23rd, when cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Nasa’s Kjell Lindgren and Japan’s Kimiya Yui are due to launch.
Kornienko and Kelly are about 2½ months into a planned year-long stay on the station, a first for the 15-nation programme. Nasa is interested in accumulating medical data about long-term effects of microgravity as it lays the groundwork for eventual human missions to Mars.
Virts (47) who had one previous space shuttle mission before flying to the space station last November, turned over command of the station to Padalka (56). Padalka, the first four-time ISS commander, will return to earth in September after a cumulative total of some 878 days in orbit, more than any other person.
Spotting the Space Station
If skies are clear, the International Space Station can be viewed tonight from: Dublin, from 10.57pm, for five minutes.
Cork, from 10.56pm, for six minutes.
Galway, from 10.56pm, for six minutes.
Athlone, from 10.57pm, for six minutes.
Waterford, from 10.56pm, for six minutes.
Tomorrow night, if skies are clear, the station will be visible over Ireland from 11.40pm for three to four minutes.
Source: spotthestation.nasa.gov