US-Russian astronauts touch down in Kazakhstan


26 Nov 2010

A Russian cosmonaut and two American astronauts departed the International Space Station (ISS) and safely landed their spacecraft, the Soyuz TMA-19, in Kazakhstan this morning, in the remote town of Arkalyk.

The two men and one woman, who had been working on the ISS, landed safely and they were said to be in good health, according to Russia’s space agency, Roskosmos.

“Health status of the crew is fine. All descent operations were nominal,” it said.

Space walk

The crew, commander Fiodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock, spent just under six months carrying out maintenance on the ISS, and Yurchikhin made two space walks during that time.

Roskosmos said their interagency board met today to evaluate the readiness of a Soyuz crew to return to the ISS on 15 December.