The snowy steppes of Kazakhstan saw the return of a three-person crew from the International Space Station to earth.
Kjell Lindren of USA, Oleg Kononenko of Russia, and Kimiya Yui of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency touched down on schedule in their Russian-built Soyuz TMA-17M capsule 76 miles northeast of Jezkazgan, Kazakhstan according to a report by Los Angeles Times.
From there, Kononenko will fly to Star City near Moscow, while Lindgren and Yui boarded a NASA jet for the Johnhson Space Center in Houston where their families are waiting for them.
Russian rescue teams in four helicopters arrived at the landing site to help the three flight engineers get out of the capsule. They were flown immediately to Jezkazgan instead of undergoing a quick medical checkup at the landing site because of the cold temperatures and strong winds.
Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly and crew Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos will remain in the International Space Station for one year before they can return to earth according to a report by Time. They will soon be joined by three new crew members, Tim Kopra of USA, Yuri Malenchenko of Russia, Tim Peake from the European Space Agency, on Dec 15.
Kononenko reported to the Russian Mission Control that the crew was "feeling fine" as the capsule descend by parachute in thick clouds. It landed softly on the wind-swept steppes in darkness.
While on board the International Space Station, Lindgren participated in two spacewalks of more than 15 hours with astronaut Scott Kelly according to The Christian Science Monitor. The two performed maintenance work and preparation for the arrival of commercial crew vehicles in 2017.
They conducted science experiments like growing the first vegetables, a red romaine lettuce that can be eaten in space.
After 141 days in space, 59.6 million miles (95.9 million kilometers) during 2,256 orbits we witness the return of International Space Station to earth about two hours after sunset.
