Three International Space Station astronauts have returned safely to Earth

Three astronauts, from the United States, Russia and Japan, on Friday successfully completed a rare nighttime landing on Earth in the wintry Kazakh steppe after returning from the International Space Station. NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko parachuted down to Earth in their Soyuz capsule in darkness and windy conditions. The trio spent 141 days in space after blasting off from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in July.

They have landed safely and the recovery team have found them. Everything is according to plan.

Spokesman for Russian space agency Roscosmos

Their landing marks the end of Expedition 45 to the ISS, with three new astronauts set to blast off for the ISS in their Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft on Tuesday. Though the joint space program has faced difficulties this year, space travel has been one of the few areas of international cooperation between Russia and the West that has not been completely destroyed by the Ukraine crisis.

They arrived in space like baby birds barely able to fly and now they soar home as eagles. Great job Kjell and Kimiya!

NASA’s Scott Kelly, ISS commander

Science space station