A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts, Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, along with American astronaut Tracy Dyson, successfully landed in Kazakhstan after undocking from the International Space Station (ISS). The capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe approximately 3.5 hours after undocking, with no reported issues during its descent. The capsule descended under a red-and-white parachute at about 7.2 meters per second (16 mph), and small rockets fired just before landing to soften the impact.
This return marks the end of a record-breaking mission for Kononenko and Chub, who spent 374 days in space, surpassing the previous record for the longest continuous stay aboard the ISS. Tracy Dyson, meanwhile, spent six months on the station. Upon landing, the astronauts were to be extracted from the capsule and placed in chairs to help them adjust to gravity, followed by medical examinations in a nearby tent.
There are still eight astronauts remaining aboard the ISS, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They were originally scheduled to return on Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but due to technical issues such as thruster troubles and helium leaks, NASA deemed it too risky for their return. They are now set to return to Earth with SpaceX next year.
