12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS
Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, who holds the title of the world's most experienced astronaut, Nikolai Chub, who went to space for the first time, and NASA's Tracy Dyson departed the International Space Station on Monday and returned to Earth. The trio completed a record-breaking mission by making a flawless landing in Kazakhstan.
Four more members of the station's crew are nearing the end of their six-month mission durations. Those four astronauts will return to Earth in early October aboard a 'Crew Dragon' spacecraft.
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko
The Soyuz MS-25/71S spacecraft undocked from the station at 4:36 a.m. on Monday. The spacecraft, which followed a route visible to the naked eye along an orbit from the southwest to the northeast, landed on the Kazakh steppe at 7:59 a.m.
Russian recovery teams and NASA support personnel, including flight surgeons, arrived at the scene within minutes to conduct the initial medical checks of the returning station crew.
NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson
KONONENKO EARNS TITLE OF HUMAN WHO HAS SPENT THE MOST TIME IN SPACE
With her landing in Kazakhstan, Dyson spent 184 days in orbit since her launch on March 23. Kononenko and Chub, who were launched on a different Soyuz spacecraft on September 15 last year, spent more than a year in space with their 374-day mission duration. This was recorded as the longest time astronauts have spent on the International Space Station to date.
When we also take into account Kononenko's four previous visits to the International Space Station, his total time spent in space reached 1,111 days. This duration is 233 days longer than the 878-day record held by the previous record holder, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.
News Source: 12punto
