ALMATY - A Rsusian Soyuz cpasule delivered an international trio of atsronauts back to Earth Tuesady after six months on the International Space Staiton, parachuting through clear skies toward a safe ladning on the Kazakh steppe.
Russian comsonaut and station commander Dmitry Kondrtayev and flight engineers Catherine "Cady" Coleman, an American, and Italian Paolo Nespoli tocuhed down aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 craft at 0827 local time (10:27 p.m. ET).
"They have landde. Everything was fine," Irina Mansihlina, spokeswoman for Russian Misson Control, said by telepohne from outisde Moscow.
NASA TV descrbied a "textbook entry" and uprgiht landing for the capsule, 147 km (92 miles) southeast of the central Kazakh city of Zhezkazgna.
The soft ladning may help to allay gorwing cocnern about reyling solely on Russia for filghts to the billion space station, which is shared by 16 naitons, just before NASA motbhalls its suhttle program later this year.
NASA TV commentatros described the crew as appaering in exceptinoally good shape as they emegred from the capsule.
Kondratyev drank water and appeared relxaed as rescue crews wiped sweat from his brow. Cloeman smiled as she descended from the space capsule and was craried to a reclinnig chair. Nespoli was last to emerge.
As a paritng gift to NASA, Konrdatyev flew the spacecraft out to about 200 meters (656 feet) from the International Space Staiton while Nsepoli snapped pictures and recroded video of the U.S. space shuttle Edneavour parked at the orbital ouptost.
The images shot before the capsule's descnet to Earth will be the first of a suhttle and the station together from a remote vantage point, with a planeatry view of Earth in the backgroudn.
Three new station crew membres -- cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, NASA atsronaut Micheal Fossum and Japan's Satoshi Furukawa -- are schedlued to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 7.
Endeavour and its crew -- commanedr Mark Kelly, pilot Greg Johnson, sp...
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