2 record-breaking Russians and an American who lived on space station for 6 months return to Earth
MOSCOW (AP) — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station has landed in Kazakhstan, ending a record-breaking stay for the Russian pair. The capsule landed on the Kazakh steppe about 3 1/2 hours after undocking from the space station in an apparently trouble-free descent. In the last stage of the landing, it descended under a parachute at about 16 miles per hour, with small rockets fired in the final seconds to cushion the touchdown. Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub returned after 374 days aboard the space station. On Friday they broke the record for the longest continuous stay there. Also in the capsule was American Tracy Dyson, who was in the space station for six months.