Expedition 59 returns from International Space Station

Washington: Several astronauts have returned to Earth from the International Space Station, successfully landing in Kazakhstan on Tuesday after spending months in space.

American astronaut Anne McClain and her Expedition 59 crewmates Oleg Kononenko, Soyuz Commander from the Russian space agency Roscomos, and David Saint-Jacques from the Canadian Space Agency returned safely after a 204-day mission, according to NASA.

In a press release issued by the US space agency, during their mission the three orbited Earth 3,264 times and travelled 88,430,555 miles.

McClain and Saint-Jacques will return to Houston while Kononenko will head to Star City in Russia, NASA added.

According to NASA, the Expedition 59 crew " contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science, including investigations into small devices that replicate the structure and function of human organs, editing DNA in space for the first time and recycling 3D-printed material."

Meanwhile McClain, a native of Spokane, Washington, conducted two spacewalks that clocked in at a total of 13 hours and 8 minutes, the agency added.

Saint-Jacques became the sixth Canadian astronaut to perform a spacewalk. He joined McClain on her second, which last 6 hours and 29 minutes.

Meanwhile, Kononenko, who was on his fourth mission, conducted two spacewalks totalling 13 hours and 46 minutes according to NASA. The release added that his five spacewalks totalled 32 hours and 13 minutes.

When their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft undocked at 7:25 p.m., Expedition 60 began aboard the station officially, with Nick Hague and Christina Koch of NASA as flight engineers, and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos as the station’s commander.

NASA stated that with the undocking of the team's Soyuz MS-11, Expedition 60 began aboard the station with Alexey Ovchinin of Roscomos the station's commander and NASA's Nick Hague and Christina Kock as flight engineers.

The next residents to arrive at the space station – Andrew Morgan of NASA, Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Alexander Skvortsov of Roscosmos – will launch aboard Soyuz MS-13 on July 20 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and join Expedition 60 after a six-hour flight.