A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut safely returned to Earth on Monday, landing in Kazakhstan after undocking from the International Space Station (ISS). This marked the end of a record-breaking mission for the Russian crew members.
The Soyuz capsule touched down on the Kazakh steppe around 3.5 hours after its departure from the ISS, with no issues reported during the descent.
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Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub completed a 374-day mission aboard the space station, setting the record for the longest continuous stay. Accompanying them was American astronaut Tracy Dyson, who spent six months aboard the ISS.
Earlier reports stated that on Monday, a Russian space capsule undocked from the ISS, preparing to bring three astronauts—Russians Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, and American Tracy Dyson—back to Earth. Their landing was scheduled for about 3.5 hours after undocking, in the vast Kazakh steppe.
Kononenko and Chub launched to the ISS on September 15, 2023, and recently broke the record for the longest continuous stay aboard the orbiting lab. Dyson, on her third space mission, spent six months on the station.
Eight astronauts remain aboard the ISS, including Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the station much longer than originally planned. They arrived in June as the first crew of Boeing’s new Starliner capsule. However, due to technical issues with thrusters and helium leaks, NASA deemed it unsafe for them to return on Starliner.
Instead, the two astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule next year.
