ISS Crew Lands After Spending Nearly 6 Months in Space

Expedition 36 crew members Chris Cassidy of NASA and Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency have returned to Earth from the International Space Station, landing safely in Kazakhstan at 10:58 p.m. EDT Tuesday (8:58 a.m. Sept. 11 Kazakh time).
Cassidy, Vinogradov and Misurkin, who launched to the station March 29, spent 166 days in space. They completed 2,656 orbits of Earth and traveled more than 70 million miles. Vinogradov conducted one spacewalk, bringing his career total to seven spacewalks with an accumulated time of 38 hours, 25 minutes. Misurkin conducted three spacewalks for a total of 20 hours, 1 minute. Cassidy conducted three spacewalks, bringing his career total to six with an accumulated time of 31 hours, 14 minutes.

During their time aboard the orbiting laboratory, the crew members saw the arrival of the European ATV-4cargo spacecraft, the Japanese HTV-4 cargo spacecraft and two Russian Progress resupply spacecraft. The trio also worked on hundreds of research experiments and science investigations that will have benefits for future human spaceflight and life on Earth.

Vinogradov now has logged 547 days in space on three spaceflights. This puts him 10th on the all-time endurance list. Cassidy has accumulated 182 days in space on his two spaceflights. This was Misurkin’s first flight, for a total of 166 days.

For information on the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station