--- description: The astronauts touched down in Kazakhstan at 8:12 a.m. EST title: International Space Station Trio Return to Earth image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02b67731d929145b/698874f20a4a227ee99c7739/iss-crew-return.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # International Space Station Trio Return to Earth by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2015 2:28 PM CUT  In an image posted on social media by Commander Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) aboard the International Space Station, the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft undocks carrying crew members Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui back to Earth, Dec. 11, 2015. In an image posted on social media by Commander Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) aboard the International Space Station, the Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft undocks carrying crew members Oleg Kononenko, Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui back to Earth, Dec. 11, 2015.Scott Kelly—NASA by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2015 2:28 PM CUT A crew of astronauts landed safely back on Earth Friday morning after spending nearly six months on the International Space Station. NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui touched down shortly after 8 a.m. EST, according to NASA. The trio landed in Kazakhstan on the [Russian-built Soyuz capsule](http://mashable.com/2015/12/11/space-station-crew-landing/?utm%5Fcid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#mdJcigcOaSqB "undefined"), which undocked from the space station at around 4:49 a.m. EST. While aboard the station, Lindgren participated in two spacewalks with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, to perform maintenance work on the station and to prepare it for the arrival of commercial crew vehicles sometime in 2017. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/675305093193830400) Still on the ship are Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov, who will man the space station until three more astronauts are expected to arrive Dec. 15\. Kelly and Kornienko are taking part in the first one-year mission aboard the space station. Time.com [streamed Lindgren’s and Kelly’s spacewalks](http://time.com/4101653/spacewalk-watch-live/ "undefined") live as part of our Year in Space coverage. NASA and the International Space Station tweeted much of the astronauts’ reentry journey. > [](https://twitter.com/Space%5FStation/status/675251177714524160) > [](https://twitter.com/NASA/status/675287705769545732) > [](https://twitter.com/Space%5FStation/status/675304551696769024) > [](https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly/status/675305899511128064) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4145617/space-station-trio-return/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4145617/space-station-trio-return/"},"headline":"International Space Station Trio Return to Earth","datePublished":"2015-12-11T14:28:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:17:59.461Z","description":"The astronauts touched down in Kazakhstan at 8:12 a.m. EST","url":"https://time.com/4145617/space-station-trio-return/","keywords":["Space","NASA","astronauts","international space station"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02b67731d929145b/698874f20a4a227ee99c7739/iss-crew-return.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt02b67731d929145b/698874f20a4a227ee99c7739/iss-crew-return.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"iss-crew-return","caption":"iss-crew-return","creditText":"Scott Kelly—NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4145617/space-station-trio-return/","name":"International Space Station Trio Return to Earth"}}]}] ```