A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Sunday after spending 241 days aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft touched down in the steppes of Kazakhstan near the town of Dzhezkazgan at 6:27 a.m. EDT, landing by parachute and rocket-assisted braking in a designated area southeast of the city.
Commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, flight engineer Sergey Mikaev, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams undocked from the station's Russian Rassvet module at 3:03 a.m. EDT. The Soyuz's braking rockets fired for four minutes and 42 seconds, dropping the craft out of orbit on a trajectory toward Kazakhstan. The main parachute unfurled for a 10-minute descent before touchdown.
Russian recovery crews moved quickly to the capsule to help the crew out and into nearby recliners for medical checks. They were also given fresh fruit, satellite phones to call home, and personalized Russian matryoshka dolls as welcome home gifts. According to CBS News, someone noted through a translator that there was vodka inside one of the dolls, prompting one crew member to joke, "Well, actually, this is why I flew to space in the first place."
Kud-Sverchkov spoke from his recliner shortly after landing. "I am feeling better and better with each moment," he said. "I would like to thank everyone who supported this landing. Everything was smooth and perfect. Everything was just excellent."
The mission was the first spaceflight for both Williams and Mikaev. Kud-Sverchkov, who had previously logged 185 days on the station in 2020 and 2021, completed his second mission. Over the course of the flight, Williams participated in two spacewalks: one to replace a joint in the station's robot arm, and another to prepare for the installation of new roll-out solar blankets. Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev conducted a maintenance spacewalk outside the Russian segment of the station.
After the landing site, the crew was flown by helicopter to the city of Karaganda, about 285 miles away. From there, Williams was scheduled to board a NASA jet for the long flight back to Johnson Space Center in Houston. His Russian crewmates were headed to their training base in Star City, near Moscow.
The return comes as U.S.-Russian cooperation in space continues despite broader geopolitical tensions following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. On July 14, a new crew arrived at the station, including NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina, who launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended that launch, marking the first visit by a NASA chief to Baikonur in eight years.
The station currently hosts Expedition 75, which includes NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, along with the newly arrived crew.
