Three NASA space crew members land safely in Kazakhstan

Washington, Sept 16 (ANI): Three International Space Station crew members safely returned to Earth today, wrapping up a six-month mission of research and exploration.

NASA's Ron Garan, Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and flight engineer Alexander Samokutyaev, of the Russian Federal Space Agency, reportedly landed their Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan at midnight EDT (10 a.m. in Kazakhstan). The trio, who arrived at the station on April 6, was scheduled to land on September 8, but that was postponed because of the August 24 loss of the Progress 44 cargo ship.

Before leaving the station, Borisenko handed over command to NASA's Mike Fossum, who leads Expedition 29. He and Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa of Japan and Sergei Volkov of Russia are conducting research and maintenance aboard the station. The launch date for the remaining Expedition 29 crew members, NASA's Dan Burbank, and Russia's Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov, is under review. (ANI)