MOSCOW—The Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut from the International Space Station successfully landed in Kazakhstan on Monday, marking the end of a record-breaking stay for the Russian duo.
The capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe approximately 3 1/2 hours after departing from the ISS, with the descent reportedly going smoothly. As the capsule descended, a red-and-white parachute deployed, slowing the spacecraft to about 7.2 meters per second (16 mph), followed by small rockets firing to cushion the touchdown.
Upon landing, the astronauts were extracted from the capsule and placed in nearby chairs to help them readjust to gravity before undergoing medical examinations in a nearby tent.
Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub returned to Earth after spending 374 days aboard the space station, breaking the record for the longest continuous stay on Friday. Joining them in the capsule was American astronaut Tracy Dyson, who had spent six months on the space station.
Currently, eight astronauts remain on the space station, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have exceeded their scheduled return date.
In June, they arrived as part of the first crew of Boeing’s new Starliner capsule. However, their return trip was postponed due to thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, leading NASA to deem it too risky to bring them back on the Starliner.
As a result, the two astronauts are now slated to return home with SpaceX next year.
