Multinational Crew Leaves Space Station, Returns to Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) —
A Russian Soyuz MS space capsule stands on the ground shortly after its landing with International Space Station (ISS) crew members Kate Rubins of the U.S., Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia and Takuya Onishi of Japan, as a rescue helicopter lands nearby, outside the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan, October 30, 2016. REUTERS/Dmitri Lovetsky/Pool
A Russian Soyuz MS space capsule stands on the ground shortly after its landing with International Space Station (ISS) crew members Kate Rubins of the U.S., Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia and Takuya Onishi of Japan, as a rescue helicopter lands nearby, outside the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan, Sunday. (Reuters/Dmitri Lovetsky/Pool)

A joint U.S., Russian and Japanese crew left the International Space Station on Saturday aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule and landed back on Earth, leaving behind three crewmates who arrived at the orbiting outpost just last week.

Station commander Anatoly Ivanishin, with the Russian space agency, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan’s Takuya Onishi climbed inside the capsule and left the station at 8:35 p.m. EDT, a NASA broadcast showed.

The trio made a parachute landing in Kazakhstan at 11:58 p.m. EDT, wrapping up a four-month mission that included the first use of a DNA sequencer in space and the installation of a parking spot for upcoming commercial space taxis.

“I’m kind of reluctant to close the hatch,” Ivanishin said during a change-of-command ceremony on Friday.

“The time is very special here … I didn’t have time to know what’s going on our planet, and maybe it’s for the better. On the space station, you live in a very friendly, very good environment.”

Ivanishin turned over command of the space station, a $100 billion orbiting research lab, to newly arrived U.S. astronaut Shane Kimbrough.

Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko reached the outpost on Oct. 21.

“We’re sorry we’re only here a week with you,” Kimbrough told the departing crew after taking command on Friday. “You guys have trained us well, though.”

Kimbrough, Ryzhikov and Borisenko will be on their own until next month, when another three crew members are due to reach the station, a project of 15 nations that orbits about 250 miles above Earth.

To Read The Full Story

Are you already a subscriber?
Click to log in!