KOROLYOV (Sputnik) — The descent capsule of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-14M manned spacecraft with international crew on board has successfully landed in the pre-planned area in Kazakhstan, the representative of the Mission Control Center told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
The first female cosmonaut in Russia's modern history, Elena Serova, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyaev and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore have returned from a 169-days long expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). They are currently being evacuated from the descent capsule. While at the ISS, the crew has conducted more than 50 scientific experiments.
US astronaut Terry Virts, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti will continue work at ISS until the new expedition arrives at the station.
The ISS-43/44 crew of Russian Space Agency cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, will travel to the ISS on the transport spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-16M" at the end of March. Kornienko and Kelly are expected to work on board the ISS for an entire year while Padalka is due to return to Earth after a six-month mission.
