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11/22/2024 04:17:37 am

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Three Expedition 41 Crew Members Return to Earth from the ISS

Another three International Space Station crewmen took the orbital commute back to Earth on Sunday.

The three members of the Expedition 41 boarded a Russian Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft and undocked from ISS at 7:31 p.m. EST on Sunday. It landed at 10:58 p.m. EST northeast of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan.

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The returning Expedition 41 crew members are outgoing station commander Maxim Suraev of Roscosmos, NASA Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency. They ascended together on the same capsule to the ISS on May 28.

The trio's six-month mission lasted 334 days in space. On the other hand, Wiseman and Gerst will have logged 165 days in space on their debut ISS mission.

The three crew members were happy to be part of the mission and enjoyed their journey outside the ISS through spacewalks.

"It's been an honor and a privilege to spend 165 days up here. With that said, I'm looking forward to heading home," said Wiseman said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast via NASA Television on Saturday.

Three crew members were left behind to man the space station: Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA and Russian cosmonauts Elena Serova and Alexander Samoukutyae. Samoukutyae joined the team six weeks ago.

Another three astronauts, NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, will launch to the ISS on November 23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The US$100 billion ISS is owned and operated by a partnership of 15 countries.

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