Three astronauts among the crew present on the International Space Station returned to Earth on Friday, Sept. 11, leaving the orbiting lab's at its normal level of six crewmembers.

The European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, and Kazakhstan's Aidyn Aimbetov were carried back to the Earth by a Russian Soyuz space capsule, according to the online publication Space.com. The three space crew members touched down safely in the former soviet republic Kazakhstan at 8:51 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 11, after 3.5 hours of space flight from the space station.

Like Us on Facebook

This marked the end of a quick mission for Aimbetov and Mogensen, who had arrived at the orbiting complex just last Friday, Sept. 4. The other cosmonaut, Padalka, had been aboard of the ISS for the usual 6-month period.

In March Padalka came up with NASA's Scott Kelly and fellow cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, both of whom are now halfway through their unprecedented orbital mission over a period of one year, according to Sputnik News. Their mission aboard of the ISS is to study how astronauts can adapt to a long-duration spaceflight.

At their return, researchers will analyze how Kornienko and Kelly have handled psychologically and physiologically with their mission. The study is an attempt to prepare the way for manned missions to Mars and other distant planets.

The conditions on the space station were temporarily crowded during the 12-month mission of Kelly and Kornienko. In normal circumstances, Soyuz capsules are certified to remain in space only for 6 months. For this reason, the vehicle that brought Padalka, Kornienko and Kelly to the orbit will not be used to take them down to the Earth next March.

Sergey Volkov, who will stay abroad until next March, together with Mogensen and Aimbetov, launched to the orbiting lab to provide Kelly and Kornienko with a vehicle to take them home.

Aimbetov was not originally scheduled for a space mission this month and his spot was supposed to be filled by English singer Sarah Brightman. She reportedly was willing to pay around $50 million for her space experience but later backed out citing personal reasons.

TagsKazakhstan space mission, Kazakhstan's astronaut, ISS astronauts return, Soyuz Capsule, safe landing