Three astronauts safely returned to Earth after a 241-day mission aboard the International Space Station, landing in the Kazakhstan steppe on July 26, 2026.The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft executed a parachute-assisted landing, marking the end of their extended stay in orbit.NASA highlighted that the crew orbited Earth 3,856 times and traveled over 102 million miles during their mission.

This was the first spaceflight for NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Mikaev, while Sergey Kud-Sverchkov completed his second mission.

After post-landing medical checks, recovery teams transported the astronauts by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where Williams will fly back to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.The landing was celebrated as a successful conclusion to the mission, with NASA sharing footage of the event on X.com.Comments from readers expressed surprise at the continued use of Soyuz for such missions and questioned why SpaceX isn't used more frequently.Despite this, the mission underscores international collaboration in space exploration and the challenges of long-duration space travel.