Space Station crew safely home on Earth

Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly of NASA captured this image from aboard the International Space Station on Saturday undocking and departure of the Soyuz TMA-17M carrying home Expedition 45 crew members Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) after their 141-day mission on the orbital laboratory. They landed safely in Kazakhstan.

Expedition 46 continues operating the station, with Kelly in command. Along with Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos, the three-person crew will operate the station for four days until the arrival of three new crew members. NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency) are scheduled to launch from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 15 December.

Expedition 45 crew members Kjell Lindgren of NASA, Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency prepare to return to Earth.

NASA

Bill Condie

Bill Condie is a science journalist based in Adelaide, Australia.

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