Record-breaking US astronaut, crewmates safely return to Earth

By Euronews • Updated: 07/09/2016

Home, sweet home. Three astronauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after nearly six months aboard the International Space Station.

Their Soyuz spacecraft made a safe parachute landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams of NASA, and flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka contributed to hundreds of scientific experiments during their 172-day mission in space.

.“Space_Station</a>: Expedition 48: Jeff Williams, Alexey Ovchinin, Oleg Skripochka back on Earth <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA">NASA/IngallsImages</a> <a href="https://t.co/MYwfcc0plX">pic.twitter.com/MYwfcc0plX</a>”</p>— Nicole Stott (Astro_Nicole) 7 septembre 2016

Williams returns to Earth with a career total of 534 days in orbit, more than any other astronaut in US history.

Before leaving the station, he turned over command to cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, who remains aboard the station with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Japan’s Takuya Onishi.

A replacement crew is due to launch on September 23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Expedition 48 officially lands at 9:13:53pm ET Tuesday (7:13:53am Kazakh time Wednesday). https://t.co/8OvxpShw1W pic.twitter.com/rimEdLawjp
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) 7 septembre 2016