• Russian capsule touches down in Kazakhstan with space station trio

    After five months in space, International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield has returned to the planet. While manning the ISS he also created the first music video in space, using a rendition of David Bowie's "Space Oddity." NBC's Brian Williams reports.

    By Miriam Kramer, Space.com

    A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a crew of three space travelers successfully touched down on the Central Asian steppes of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, wrapping up a five-month mission to the International Space Station.

    Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko landed in their Soyuz capsule at about 8:31 a.m. Kazakh time (10:31 p.m. ET Monday).

    "It's beautiful," Romanenko radioed right before landing. "It's morning here." [Astronaut Chris Hadfield's 8 Most Amazing Space Moments]

    After the landing, all three had smiles on their faces. "That was quite a ride home," Hadfield said.

    The trio's return marks the end of the station's Expedition 35, which Hadfield commanded, and the start of Expedition 36. The landing comes just two days after Marshburn and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy performed an unprecedented emergency spacewalk to fix a serious ammonia coolant leak on the outside of the station.

    The three spacefliers orbited Earth 2,300 times and logged 61 million miles (98 million kilometers) during their 144 days on the station. Romanenko, Hadfield and Marshburn also witnessed the arrival and departure of a few unmanned cargo ships, including SpaceX's Dragon capsule in March.

    Hadfield was the first Canadian commander of the space station,  and he shared his unique perspective on the planet with everyone back on Earth during his time on the orbiting outpost. The astronaut beamed back a series of videos about life in space, including a music video cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity," sung as a goodbye to his space-based home.

    Cosmic Log: Space station chief returns home a star

    After spending five months in space aboard the International Space Station, its three-man crew landed safely in Kazakhstan.

    Carla Cioffi / NASA

    After their landing, spacefliers Chris Hadfield, Roman Romanenko and Tom Marshburn are surrounded by recovery team members in a remote area near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan on Tuesday.

    Chris Hadfield via Twitter

    Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sent this final picture from the International Space Station: "To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn," he wrote.

    Hadfield sent down his last photo from onboard the $100 billion laboratory on Monday. "Spaceflight finale: To some this may look like a sunset," Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) wrote on Twitter. "But it's a new dawn."

    The departing Soyuz left behind three other astronauts to watch over the space station, but they won't be alone for long. Cassidy, Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin will be joined by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, NASA's Karen Nyberg and Russia's Fyodor Yurchikhin when they fly up to the station at the end of the month.

    NASA has relied on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to shuttle the space agency's astronauts to and from the space station since the end of the shuttle program in 2011. NASA officials eventually hope to use private spaceships to bring people to and from the orbiting laboratory.

    The International Space Station is the size of a five-bedroom house and was constructed by five different space agencies representing 15 different countries. Construction began in 1998, and since 2000 the station has been occupied continuously by crews of cosmonauts and astronauts.

    Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter and Google+. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

    Copyright 2013 Space.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    This story was originally published on Mon May 13, 2013 7:35 PM EDT

  • Soyuz spacecraft brings US-Russian space station crew back to Earth

    Roscosmos / NASA TV

    A Russian recovery team opens up the hatch of a Soyuz spacecraft after its landing in Kazakhstan early Saturday local time. The capsule carried a U.S.-Russian crew back to Earth from the International Space Station.

    By Miriam Kramer
    Space.com

    A Soyuz spacecraft has safely landed on the frigid steppes of Kazakhstan, returning an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to Earth after a nearly five-month mission on the International Space Station.

    The Soyuz space capsule touched down at about 11:11 p.m. ET Friday, which was early Saturday at the landing site. The spacecraft brought NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin home after 142 days in space. The trio was greeted by freezing temperatures after exiting the spacecraft.

    "They've landed. Expedition 34 is back on Earth," NASA spokesman Rob Navias said during live commentary.

    Originally, the international crew was to leave the orbiting laboratory on Thursday, but freezing rain and foggy weather on the ground prevented them from returning home. Weather conditions improved on Friday, leading to a smooth undocking; however, a bank of clouds hampered visibility in the landing zone, complicating the Russian search and recovery team's task.

    During their stay aboard the station, the three spacefliers orbited the Earth 2,304 times, traveling nearly 61 million miles (98,169,984 kilometers). This was Novitskiy and Tarelkin's first trip to space, and the second for Ford. [See photos from Expedition 34 space mission]

    The three crew members were on board to see the docking of the unmanned Dragon capsule — owned and operated by private spaceflight firm SpaceX — at the beginning of March. A month before, the crew participated in the docking and undocking of a Russian Progress supply capsule.

    NASA TV

    The International Space Station is seen in a video view from a departing Russian Soyuz craft.

    Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin leave three other crew members on board the space station. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn said their goodbyes to the departing trio earlier in the day. Ford passed the commander's role to Hadfield, putting a Canadian in charge of the station for the first time.

    Hadfield, Romanenko and Marshburn will not be the sole residents of the station for long. Cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov, Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy are expected to arrive at the station on March 28. If all goes as planned, it will mark the first time a Soyuz capsule has delivered a station crew to the International Space Station in one day. Russia's Federal Space Agency tested the one-day flight profile during unmanned Progress cargo ship deliveries to the space station.

    NASA has relied on Russia's Soyuz capsules to transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit since the retirement of the agency's shuttle program in 2011. In the future, NASA officials plan to use on privately built spacecraft to carry people and cargo to and from the space station.

    The $100 billion laboratory was built by space agencies representing Japan, Canada, Europe, the United States and Russia. International crews of astronauts have occupied the station continuously since 2000.

    Follow Miriam Kramer @mirikramer and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.

    Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:40 PM EDT