US, Russian trio return to Earth after six months on ISS

DPA, 22ND OCTOBER, 2020 - Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and American astronaut Chris Cassidy have landed safely on Earth after spending half a year on the International Space Station (ISS), according to NASA.

The trio landed in a Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft at around 0320GMT on Thursday, in a remote town in Kazakhstan, NASA said in a tweet.

The 402-kilometre journey back to earth took about three hours and 20 minutes.

Their return marks the end of a 196-day mission. Over that time the ISS orbited Earth 3,136 times and covered more than 133 million kilometres.

Ivanishin is a seasoned space traveller - over three flights he has spent 476 days in space.

While it was Vagner’s first flight, expedition commander Cassidy has spent a total of 378 days in space.

In November, four new guests will be sent to the station on a rocket launched by private space company Space.