Russian-U.S. crew returns to Earth from ISS following year-long expedition
KOROLYOV, Moscow region. Sept 27 (Interfax) - The reentry module of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio has successfully landed in Kazakhstan, an Interfax correspondent reported from the space mission control center in Korolyov outside Moscow.
The module touched down around 148 kilometers southeast of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan at 2:17 p.m. Moscow time.
After the crewmembers are evacuated from the spacecraft, medical specialists will carry out their preliminary examination, including measuring their blood oxygen level and blood pressure, and if necessary, provide them with medical aid.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft undocked from the Prichal module of the Russian segment of the ISS.
The Russian Central Military District's press service reported earlier that about 200 troops, Mil Mi-8 helicopters, Antonov An-12 and An-26 aircraft, and ground vehicles, including PEM-1 and PEM-2 Sinyaya Ptitsa search and evacuation vehicles, were engaged in supporting the landing operation.
The crew had arrived at the ISS on board the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft on September 21, 2022. The expedition was to last for 188 days, and the crew were to return to Earth on March 28, 2023.
However, the expedition was extended by another six months due to damage caused to the Soyuz MS-22's radiator in December 2022. Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov said at the time that the radiator of the spacecraft's external thermal regulation system was hit by a meteoroid.
The uncrewed reentry module of the damaged Soyuz MS-22 landed in Kazakhstan on March 28, 2023. The uncrewed Soyuz MS-23 replacing the Soyuz MS-22 docked with the ISS on February 16.
Coolant leak from the Progress MS-21 resupply spacecraft's thermal regulation system was recorded on February 11, and it was sunk in the Pacific Ocean on February 19.
During the expedition, cosmonauts Prokopyev and Petelin carried out applied scientific experiments, received four Progress MS resupply spacecraft, and performed six spacewalks.
On September 11, the crewmembers set a record of uninterrupted presence on board the ISS, having stayed there for over 355 days by that time. As of the moment of their return to Earth, they had stayed on board the station for 371 days.
The mission was the first one under a Russian-U.S. agreement on cross-flights. In July 2022, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement on cross-flights of three Russian cosmonauts on U.S. Crew Dragon crewed spacecraft and three American astronauts on Russian Soyuz MS crewed spacecraft in 2022-2024.
The Expedition 70 crewmembers currently working on the ISS include Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Konstantin Borisov, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.