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U.S., Russian, Japanese Astronauts Return To Earth


The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station from the launchpad at Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 19.
The Soyuz MS-02 spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station from the launchpad at Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on October 19.

A joint U.S., Russian, and Japanese crew has landed safely in Kazakhstan following a 115-day mission aboard the International Space Station.

The three astronauts -- U.S. astronaut Kate Rubins, Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin, and Takuya Onishi of Japan -- made a parachute landing on October 30 near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan.

Their journey marks the first complete mission at the orbital laboratory for a modified Soyuz spacecraft.

The mission included the first use of a DNA sequencer in space by Rubins, a molecular biologist, and installation of a parking spot for commercial space taxis.

Andrei Borisenko and Sergei Ryzhykov of Russia and NASA astronaut Robert Shane Kimbrough remain aboard the space station.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP

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