There's no place like home. Three International Space Station (ISS) astronauts landed safely on Earth last Saturday morning (July 18) after spending 186 days in space.
Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra (NASA), Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos) and flight engineer Tim Peake (European Space Agency) landed safely at 5:15 a.m. on Saturday in a remote area in Kazakhstan after a roughly six-hour ride on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the ISS.
When the Soyuz capsule touched down on Earth, a gust of wind blew the capsule onto its side. Despite the small bump, the three ISS astronauts landed in good shape.
A stand-by crew lifted the men one by one off the capsule, whose diameter measured just a little over 2 meters, and placed on chairs.
"I'm just truly elated. The smells of the Earth are so strong. It's just wonderful to feel the fresh air. I'm looking forward to seeing the family now," said Peake.
The ESA astronaut said that his 186-day stint at the ISS was a "life-changing experience," adding that he will definitely miss the view from space.
The three astronauts then boarded a helicopter to the city of Karaganda, which is located around two hours from where the Soyuz capsule landed, where a traditional welcome ceremony awaited them.
From Karaganda, Malenchenko boarded a Russian jet that will take him to Star City near Moscow. Peake and Kopra took a NASA jet to Bodo, Norway.
From Bodo, Peake took an ESA plane to the space agency's training center in Cologne, Germany. Kopra continued to fly toward his home in the United States, which is located near Houston's Johnson Space Center.
ISS Mission Accomplished
Since the Dec. 15, 2015 blast off, the ISS mission took exactly 185 days, 22 hours and 11 minutes. The spaceflight covered a total of 2,976 orbits and almost 78 million miles.
Last Friday, Kopra officially turned over the ISS to Expedition 48 commander Jeffrey Williams during a brief ceremony.
"It's been a tremendous honor to serve with this crew. I can't think of a better group of people to spend time with in space and to work with," said Kopra.
The three international astronauts were part of several experiments and studies conducted on board the ISS. The research involved studies on microgravity's effects on the human body.
The studies are not done yet. These ISS astronauts will be subjected to several physical and medical tests to see how their bodies adapted to the long-term space missions.
The men also took part in robotics testing activities as well as the development of smaller exercise machines that astronauts can use in longer space missions.
