U.S. and Russian astronauts landed in Kazakhstan after staying in space in 172 days
After 172 days of staying in space, an astronaut and two cosmonauts finally finished their mission and landed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was very excited about the development.
The end of their mission comes the same day a U.S. space probe was cleared for launch on Thursday. The said probe aims to to collect and return samples from an asteroid in hopes of learning more about the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system.
A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts formally wrapped up their 172-day mission aboard the International Space Station.
A NASA TV broadcast showed that the astronaut and cosmonauts landed on the ground with a parachute descent and landing at dawn on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
The capsule where they were aboard made a parachute descent southeast of Zhezkazgan and it disappeared into a layer of haze as it neared the ground.
NASA mission commentator Rob Navias said that station commander Jeff Williams of the U.S. space agency, and flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka, both with Russia’s Roscosmos agency, pulled away from the space station as the ships sailed 258 miles over eastern Mongolia.
Earlier on Wednesday, Williams tweeted, “I will certainly miss this view!” posting a picture of sunlight glinting off the planet.
“Vast gratitude toward my crewmates, ground teams, supporting friends, and family,” Williams added.
The 58-year-old Williams, returns to Earth with a career total of 534 days in orbit.
Before leaving the station, Williams turned over command of the $100 billion outpost. This is a project of 15 nations, to cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, who remains aboard the station with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan’s Takuya Onishi.
Ivanishin said during a change-of-command ceremony on Monday, “We’ll be missing you here.” “Have fun riding though the atmosphere … and have a very safe and exceptionally soft landing.”
On Sept. 23, a replacement crew is due to be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.