Space station astronauts return safely to earth

A three-person crew from the International Space Station has landed safely in Kazakhstan, NASA said.

Soyuz Spacecraft docked to the ISS. Image by NASA Goddard Spac… / CC BY 2.0

Nasa’s Kjell Lindgren, Russia’s Oleg Kononenko and Kimiya Yui of Japan returned to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-17M capsule after 141 days in space.

They touched down on schedule north east of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

Mr Kononenko reported to Russian Mission Control that the crew was feeling fine as the capsule descended on parachute before landing softly in darkness in the wind-swept snowy steppes.

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA and crewmates Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos remain on the station. They will be joined by three new crew members next Tuesday, including British astronaut Tim Peake.

(Press Association)