Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and astronauts Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker landed at 4:47 GMT near Arkalyk in the steppe of Kazakhstan. They have been on the the ISS since June 18.

"Lowering from orbit and landing operations were carried out as planned. The cosmonauts are in good health," Russian Mission Control said in a statement.

"So long, guys, we are going home!" Yurchikhin said over footage of the Soyuz floating away from the station.

Four hours later the first television reports showed the three crew members sitting near the landing site covered in blankets and smiling. "Hi Mom!" said a giant sign held up by Wheelock.

They were served tea immediately amid temperatures of around -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Farenheit). Walker and Wheelock will fly straight to the United States from Kazakhstan while Yurchikhin will return to Moscow.

Five space launches are planned for December, including one manned Soyuz launch and four Glonass-type satellites, said Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov, Russian news agencies reported.

He said a joint flight to Mars is still planned for the year 2030 by 26 space agencies. "Of course a flight like that can be done individually by United States, Russia, or China," he said. "But given the cost and reasonability, everyone is in favour of a joint programme."

"Many countries have returned to the idea of creating habitable stations on the Moon. But the main planet to which agencies direct their gazes is Mars," RIA Novosti agency quoted him as saying.

The return was originally scheduled for November 30, but Roskosmos requested to move the date four days earlier due to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on December 1-2.

Kazakhstan is restricting air space for several days prior to the summit, and Russia's space authorities requested an earlier landing, a Roskosmos spokesman told RIA Novosti earlier this month.

In the course of their mission, the crew members worked on microgravity experiments in various fields, and had to carry out three unplanned spacewalks to repair the station's external cooling system after an emergency shutdown, NASA said in a statement.

The crew enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner of "rehydrateable turkey and dressing" the night before the voyage, NASA's Scott Kelly, who remains on the station, wrote on Twitter.

Also remaining on the ISS are Russian cosmonauts Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka.

They are to be joined by Russia's Dmitry Kondratyev, Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency, and NASA's Catherine Coleman, who will launch from Baikonur on December 15.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News