Soyuz MS-28 landing brings US-Russian ISS crew back to Kazakhstan
NASA astronaut Chris Williams and two Roscosmos crewmates returned after 241 days aboard the International Space Station.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
The Soyuz MS-28 landing in Kazakhstan returned a mixed U.S.-Russian crew from the International Space Station after a 241-day mission, the Associated Press reported. NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev came down Sunday in the Kazakh steppe.
AP reported that the capsule descended under parachute and reached its planned landing zone southeast of Dzhezkazgan. The landing ended an eight-month stay on the orbiting station for the three crew members.
The mission marked the first trip to space for Williams and Mikaev, according to AP. Kud-Sverchkov has now completed his second spaceflight.
Who was on Soyuz MS-28?
The returning Soyuz MS-28 crew included one NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts: Chris Williams, Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev, AP reported. The trio had been living and working on the International Space Station before their return to Earth.
After landing, the crew was due to be taken by helicopter to Karaganda, according to AP. From there, Williams was expected to fly on to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Kud-Sverchkov and Mikaev were to travel to Star City, the Russian training center outside Moscow.
Why the landing also points to continued US-Russian space work
The return came during a period when U.S.-Russian relations remain strained over Moscow's 2022 deployment of troops into Ukraine, AP reported. Space station operations have continued despite those tensions, with U.S. and Russian crew members still using each other's spacecraft to reach the ISS.
The International Space Station is the orbiting outpost where astronauts and cosmonauts from multiple space agencies live and work during long-duration missions. AP described the station as a continuing area of cooperation between Washington and Moscow, even after their Cold War space race rivalry.
A new three-person crew reached the ISS on July 14 for its own eight-month mission, according to AP. NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina launched that day from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a site leased by Russia.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman attended that launch, AP reported. It was the first visit to Baikonur by the head of NASA in eight years.
Menon, Dubrov and Kikina joined NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev as members of Expedition 75, according to AP. Their arrival kept the station staffed as the Soyuz MS-28 crew prepared to close out its mission and return home.
This story draws on original reporting from Phys.org.