2 Russians, 1 American return from 6 months on space station

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2 Russians, 1 American return from 6 months on space station
Associated Press  20 hours ago



Russian Cosmonauts Elena Serova, left, Alexander Samokutyaev of Roscosmos, center, and NASA Astronaut Barry Wilmore of NASA sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-14M spacecraft just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Thursday, March 12, 2015. NASA Astronaut Wilmore, Russian Cosmonauts Samokutyaev and Serova are returning after almost six months onboard the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls)



MOSCOW (AP) — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and an American landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday, ending the astronauts' nearly six months aboard the International Space Station.

The capsule carried Russians Alexander Samokutayev and Elena Serova and NASA's Barry Wilmore. They blasted off for the space station on Sept. 26.

The capsule landed upright in heavy fog southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan on the Kazakh steppes. Despite the poor visibility, recovery workers arrived within several minutes and all three astronauts were extracted within a half-hour.

They were taken to recliner-style chairs set up near the capsule to begin their readjustment to gravity and undergo brief medical tests. All three appeared in good condition. And Serova smiled broadly as she sat in the chair bundled up against temperatures a few degrees below freezing.

Three other astronauts remain aboard the space station. They will be joined by three others on March 27; two of those -- Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko -- are to spend a full year on the ISS.


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