Three crew members from the International Space Station returned to the surface of Earth on Friday at 1312 GMT. The trio set foot safely on Kazakhstan in the middle of a snow storm after spending 141 days in space. Kjell Lingren of the United States, Oleg Kononeko of Russia, and Kimiya Yui are all glad to be back here on earth. Aside from being cold due to the freezing temperatures, the trio are all reported to be in excellent health and ready to begin their next journey in life. Currently, Scott Kelly from NASA and Russians Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov remain on the station. Three additional crew members are set to arrive at the station next Tuesday.
MOSCOW (AP) — A three-person crew from the International Space Station landed safely Friday in the snowy steppes of Kazakhstan.
The U.S. space agency’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 at 7:12 p.m. local time (1312 GMT) about 120 kilometers ( 75 kilometers) northeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.
Kononenko reported to the Russian Mission Control that the crew was feeling fine as the capsule was descending by parachute in thick clouds before landing softly in darkness on the wind-swept steppes. Russian rescue teams in four helicopters arrived quickly at the landing site to help the crew get out of the capsule, which rested on its side in the snow.
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