ISS Astronauts Return to Earth, Under New COVID Conditions

Welcome home to American Chris Cassidy, Russians Anatoly Ivanishin, Ivan Vagner
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 22, 2020 7:06 AM CDT
Astronaut Swap Complete as Trio Returns Home From ISS
In this photo, NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy sits in a chair shortly after landing near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Thursday.   (Rosaviatsiya via AP)

A trio of space travelers safely returned to Earth on Thursday after a six-month mission on the International Space Station. The Soyuz MS-16 capsule carrying NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Roscosmos' Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 7:54am Thursday, per the AP. After a brief medical checkup, the three will be taken by helicopters to Dzhezkazgan, from where they'll depart home. The crew smiled as they talked to masked members of the recovery team, and NASA and Roscosmos reported they were in good condition. As part of additional precautions due to the coronavirus, the rescue team members meeting the crew were tested for the virus, and the number of people involved in the recovery effort was limited.

Cassidy, Ivanishin, and Vagner spent 196 days in orbit since arriving at the station on April 9. NASA's Kate Rubins and Roscosmos' Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov arrived at the orbiting outpost a week ago for a six-month stay. Before the crew's departure, Russian cosmonauts were able to temporarily seal the air leak they tried to locate for several months. The small leak has posed no immediate danger to the station's crew, and Roscosmos engineers have been working on a permanent seal. In November, Rubins, Ryzhikov, and Kud-Sverchkov are expected to greet NASA's first operational SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, comprising NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi. It follows a successful Demo-2 mission earlier this year.

(More astronauts stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X