MOSCOW (AP) — Russian Mission Control says astronauts from Canada and Belgium and a Russian cosmonaut have landed safely in Kazakhstan, wrapping up a six-month stint on the International Space Station.
Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin says the Russian Soyuz TMA-15 capsule carrying Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, and Belgium's Frank De Winne touched down without a hitch Tuesday near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan's barren north.
Parachutes slowed the craft to a soft touchdown as scheduled and Russian helicopters carrying medical experts headed to the area to help the crew out.
The trio blasted off to the International Space Station on May 27. Their arrival marked the doubling of the station's permanent crew to six people.
