Crew of seventh permanent expedition returns to Earth from ISS

The crew of the seventh permanent expedition, which includes commander Yuri Malenchenko and flight engineer Edward Lu returned to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). They worked six months in the orbit. Astronaut of the fifth visiting expedition Pedro Duque returned from his 10-day space mission together with them.

The landing took place at 5.40 Moscow time, 38 km to the south of the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.

Vladimir Solovyov, the flight head of the Russian ISS segment, said at a press conference that the landing of the re-entry vehicle was conducted in a calculated time and in a regular mode. At the same time, he pointed out that "some deviations occurred in the course of descending but we rapidly coped with them".

According to Solovyov, from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, the cosmonauts will fly to the Zvyozdny (Star) township, near Moscow. Their meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday in the Chkalovsky airport at 14.00, Moscow time.