241 days in space: US-Russian ISS crew lands safely on Earth
Moscow: A US-Russian space crew landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sunday after completing an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Russian cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev returned aboard the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft, which made a smooth parachute-assisted landing in a designated area southeast of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.
The crew spent 241 days aboard the ISS. It was the first space mission for Williams and Mikaev, while Kud-Sverchkov was completing his second mission in space.
After landing, the astronauts were scheduled to be transported by helicopter to Karaganda. Williams will then return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev will travel to their training facility at Star City near Moscow.
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US-Russia cooperation in space
The mission highlights continued cooperation between the United States and Russia in space exploration despite political tensions between the two countries following Russia’s military action in Ukraine in 2022.
The two nations, which were once major rivals during the Cold War space race, have continued joint operations aboard the ISS, with astronauts and cosmonauts travelling to the station using both American and Russian spacecraft.
On July 14, another international crew arrived at the ISS for an eight-month mission.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina launched from the Russia-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and joined Expedition 75.
The newly arrived crew is working alongside NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev as part of the ongoing ISS operations.
With AFP inputs