Three ISS crew members return to Earth

After a six-month trek in orbit, three crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth early on Wednesday morning, just 23 minutes after sunrise at 7:13 am local time (0113 UTC).

The trio undocked from the space station nearly three and a half hours before touchdown, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

"Everything went very smoothly, very normally," said NASA spokesman Rob Navias.

NASA's Jeff Williams returned to Earth as the US record holder for time spent in orbit, logging 534 days in space over four missions. Williams and his two Russian colleagues, Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka logged 117.2 million kilometers in space, circling the Earth 2,752 times before landing on target in the south central steppes of Kazakhstan.

Picturesque landing

Following their successful landing, the trio was promptly pulled out of the Russian Soyuz capsule, which landed on its side, something which isn't unusual.

The astronauts were then carried to a medical tent for routine assessments to see how they adjusted to gravity, including a check to see how they could stand.

NASA spokesman Dan Huot called it a "picturesque landing" on a picture-perfect day.

The men were later pictured stretched out in chairs, chatting on cell phones as they gave a thumbs up to the press.

Spacewalks and experiments

During their time in orbit, the three crew members conducted experiments aboard the ISS. Williams also performed two major spacewalks, including one to help install a vital docking port on the outside of the orbiting lab.

The world record for time spent in space is currently held by Russian Gennady Padalka with 879 days. Thirteen Russians have more time in space than Williams.

The returning crew members will be replaced by US astronaut Shane Kimbrough and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko, who are scheduled to blast off for the ISS on September 23.

ksb/jm (AFP, AP, Reuters)