spacetoday.net: Soyuz returns three ISS crewmembers to Earth

Posted: Mon, Nov 19, 2012, 6:37 AM ET (1137 GMT)
Soyuz TMA-05 after landing (NASA)

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying three returning International Space Station crewmembers safely landed early Monday in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 5:26 pm EST (2226 GMT) Sunday and landed north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, at 8:56 pm EST Sunday (0156 GMT, 7:56 am local time Monday). On board the Soyuz were NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, who spent 127 days in space. Initial reports indicated that the capsule landed as much as 35 kilometers away from the target because of the delayed release of a parachute, but NASA officials later said the capsule did land very close to the target. Three people remain on the ISS, and the crew will return to six with the launch of a Soyuz next month.