A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts touched down safely in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, bringing an eight-month sojourn aboard the International Space Station to a close. Jonny Kim, Sergey Ryzhikov, and Alexey Zubritsky completed their mission aboard the Soyuz MS-27 craft, returning to Earth after orbiting the planet for 245 days and logging about 104 million miles in space.
Landing occurred on the Kazakhstani steppe at 10:03 a.m. local time, aided by parachutes and followed by a joint NASA-Roscosmos recovery team that assisted them from the capsule and conducted medical checks. While Kim and Ryzhikov emerged in good health, Zubritsky was taken to an inflatable medical tent for further care.
The crew launched from the ISS on Monday at 8:41 p.m. EST, beginning the roughly 3.5-hour descent. During an emotional moment after landing, Kim reflected on the experience, saying the bond formed among the crew stood out as the most memorable aspect of the mission. He also offered a broader, perhaps unconventional view: after eight months in space, he asserted that the greatest attribute a human—or an astronaut—can possess isn’t technical prowess or loyalty, but love. He described love as the strongest force among astronauts for one another, their colleagues on the ground, and the planet they cherish.
During their expedition, the trio completed 42 scientific missions while aboard the ISS. After landing, a helicopter ferried them to Karaganda, where they connected with their respective NASA and Roscosmos recovery teams. Kim then prepared for his flight home to Houston aboard a NASA aircraft, while Ryzhikov and Zubritsky were scheduled to travel to Star City, Russia, for Roscosmos training. Details about Zubritsky’s condition or the continuation of his return trip were not disclosed.
In related spaceflight developments, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket dispatched the Northrop Grumman Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft to the ISS from Cape Canaveral on September 14, 2025, illustrating the ongoing tempo of crewed and uncrewed resupply missions that sustain research and exploration at the station.
