A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut from the International Space Station (ISS) successfully landed in Kazakhstan on Monday, marking the end of a record-breaking mission for the Russian pair. The capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe approximately 3 1/2 hours after departing from the ISS, with a smooth descent reported.
During the final stage of landing, the capsule descended under a red-and-white parachute at a speed of about 7.2 meters per second (16 mph), with small rockets firing in the last moments to soften the touchdown. The astronauts were then extracted from the capsule and seated nearby to aid in their adjustment to Earth's gravity, followed by medical examinations in a nearby tent.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub returned after spending a remarkable 374 days aboard the space station, setting a new record for the longest continuous stay. Accompanying them was American astronaut Tracy Dyson, who had spent six months on the ISS.
Currently, eight astronauts remain aboard the space station, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have exceeded their scheduled return date. They had arrived in June as part of Boeing's new Starliner capsule crew, but due to technical issues during their mission, NASA deemed it unsafe to return them on the Starliner spacecraft.
As a result, the two astronauts are now slated to return to Earth next year with SpaceX. The successful landing of the Soyuz capsule marks another milestone in space exploration and highlights the collaborative efforts of international space agencies in advancing human spaceflight.
