An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts landed in Kazakhstan on Tuesday after leaving the International Space Station, or ISS, in a Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, ending an eight-month stay in space.
NASA´s Jonny Kim and Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, made the parachute-assisted landing in the steppes southeast of Zhezkazgan, in the central part of the country.
“Early in the morning, they were on the ISS, and now they are on Earth,” Roscosmos said on Telegram.
“Over the course of 245 days in space, the crew orbited Earth 3,920 times, traveling nearly 104 million miles,” NASA said. “They launched to the space station on April 8. This mission marked the first spaceflight for both Kim and Zubritsky, while Ryzhikov completed his third journey to space, logging a total of 603 days in space.”
Image: Roscosmos
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the safe landing and congratulated the three men on completing their mission aboard the International Space Station. The men conducted a number of scientific experiments on the station.
“Kazakhstan remains a trusted partner in international space cooperation, providing essential infrastructure and conditions that support safe and successful human spaceflight,” the ministry said.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is a mainstay of the Russian space program.
