Russian mission control says a Soyuz space capsule carrying an Italian, a Russian, and an American back from the International Space Station has landed safely in Kazakhstan.
The mission control said Russian Dmitry Kondratyev, Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, and Catherine Coleman of the U.S. space agency NASA landed at a planned location to the east of the town of Jezkazgan.
The three had spent the last 159 days in space as the long-term crew at the space station.
After disembarking from the space station aboard the Soyuz, officials said the Italian astronaut took photos and video of the U.S. space shuttle “Endeavour” attached the space station, with a planetary view of Earth in the background, in what’s believed to be the first pictures of their kind.
NASA is due to officially end the space shuttle program with a flight in July.
compiled from agency reports