Astronaut and cosmonauts back on Earth after six months in space

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut have returned to Earth, capping a nearly six-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Riding inside a Russian Soyuz capsule, former station commander Steve Swanson and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev landed southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan at 0223 GMT Thursday. In addition to a pair of Russian space walks, the returning crew tackled a record number of science experiments, upgraded the station’s prototype humanoid robot and repaired broken equipment.

We accomplished a lot. We’ve had a lot of fun.

Former station commander, Steve Swanson

"We did a lot of maintenance, which is good and bad," Swanson said. "I love doing maintenance, but it means things broke." New station commander Max Suraev remains aboard the orbital outpost along with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and the European Space Agency’s Alexander Gerst. Three new crew members, including the first Russian woman to serve on the station, are due to launch on September 25.

Science ISS