Soyuz MS-16 capsule returns 3 ISS crewmembers to Earth, safely landing in Kazakh steppe
MOSCOW. Oct 22 (Interfax) - The Soyuz MS-16 capsule carrying Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on their way back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) safely landed in the Kazakh steppe.
"Landing has been accomplished," the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos said on Twitter.
The capsule landed 147 kilometers south-east of the city of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.
Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin has confirmed the Soyuz MS-16 capsule's safe landing and congratulated its crew on returning to Earth.
"The capsule of the Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft landed at 5:54 a.m., Moscow time, in a routine mode. Everything is fine on board. I congratulate the crew on their return to Earth and I congratulate the members of the state commission in charge of flight tests of manned systems on the successful completion of the latest crewed mission," Rogozin wrote on Twitter.
Rogozin personally met the crew upon touchdown. All specialists meeting the crew were wearing protective masks and protective suits.
Upon touchdown, ground support personnel reached the landing capsule and helped the crewmembers open the hatches and climb out of the capsule. After they left the capsule, Ivanishin, Vagner, and Cassidy were placed on special chairs and were examined by doctors.
The Russian cosmonauts will be transported by helicopters to Zhezkazgan, from where they will be airlifted to Moscow. NASA astronaut Cassidy will head back to the United States from Kazakhstan, the press service of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center told Interfax.
The ISS mission of Ivanishin, Vagner, and Cassidy started on April 9, 2020. They spent 196 days in orbit, during which they carried out a series of scientific and applied experiments and continued the efforts to further equip the station. They also located an air leak in the station's Russian segment.