US, Russian, Japanese astronauts return from ISS

Astana / AFP

Three astronauts landed safely in Kazakhstan on Sunday following a 115-day mission aboard the the International Space Station, including US astronaut Kate Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA in space.
Russian mission control confirmed the touchdown of NASA’s Rubins, Roscosmos’ Anatoly Ivanishin and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at 0358 GMT. The trio landed southeast of the Kazakh steppe town of Zhezkazgan in clear but frosty conditions after a flight from the orbital lab.
“Landing has taken place!” Russian mission control stated, with commentators on NASA TV noting that the Soyuz craft had landed in an upright position. Molecular biologist Rubins and Onishi were both returning from their first missions in space, while flight commander Ivanishin undertook a five-month mission at the ISS five years ago. Footage from the landing site on NASA television showed Rubins smiling after she was hoisted out last from the Soyuz descent module. “Everybody is feeling wonderful,” said Ivanishin, who emerged first from the craft, in comments translated from Russian.
After they are flown to the Kazakh city of Karaganda, Ivanishin will head to Star City just outside Moscow for post-mission work, while Rubins and Onishi will fly to Houston.
Their journey back to Earth marks the first complete mission to and
from the orbital lab for a new generation of Soyuz spacecraft with upgraded features.
Rookie Rubins’ participation in the mission generated particular excitement after NASA announced plans for the career scientist to sequence DNA aboard the ISS in a world first. In August Rubins successfully sequenced samples of mouse, virus and bacteria DNA using a device called MinION while Earth-based researchers simultaneously sequenced identical samples.