Three astronauts from NASA and Roscosmos have embarked on their journey back to Earth after completing a landmark mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The crew – NASA's Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky – undocked their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft on December 9, 2025, following 245 days in orbit.
During their tenure at the ISS, the team traveled approximately 104 million miles and completed 3,900 Earth orbits while conducting vital scientific experiments. This mission marked Kim and Zubritsky's debut long-duration spaceflight, while Ryzhikov added a third successful mission to his record.
The crew is scheduled for a parachute-assisted landing in Kazakhstan's vast steppe region, a routine but critical phase in spaceflight operations. Their return highlights continued international cooperation in space exploration amid growing global interest in orbital research and interplanetary missions.
