Record-holding US Astronaut And Two Russians Return To Earth

WASHINGTON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -7th Sept,2016) - An American astronaut who set the US record for cumulative time in orbit safely returned to Earth early Wednesday along with two Russian cosmonauts after a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

NASA's Jeff Williams, 58, logged 534 days in space over four missions. The ISS commander landed at 7:13 local time (0113 GMT) on the steppes of central Kazakhstan aboard a Russian-made Soyuz capsule along with Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka.

"Touchdown! Welcome home @Astro_Jeff, officially back on Earth after 172-day mission & total 534 days on 4 missions," NASA tweeted.

A NASA live video feed showed Williams on the ground smiling and waving while talking on a satellite phone before being carried away for medical tests.

The three men undocked from the ISS nearly three and a half hours earlier after spending their mission largely conducting scientific experiments. Williams performed five space walks, including one along with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins to install a docking adapter for future commercial Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules to visit the space station.