Mission Reports

Kelly, Kornienko about to wrap up 340-day mission

Astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are making final preparations for return to Earth Tuesday evening, closing out a record 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station where they served as medical test subjects to learn more about the long-term effects of weightlessness, space radiation and isolation.

Mission Reports

Russians carry out spacewalk

Two veteran cosmonauts ventured outside the International Space Station Wednesday, swapped out materials science space exposure samples, installed handrails needed for future spacewalks and tested an applicator and thin-film coatings that could prove useful reconditioning aged or damaged hull panels.

Mission Reports

Live coverage: Soyuz crew back on Earth

Wrapping up a busy week on the International Space Station, a crew of three boarded their Soyuz landing craft and headed for Earth on Friday. Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, the most experienced space crewman in history, was at the controls, along with Danish and Kazakh crew members, and landed in Kazakhstan at 8:51 p.m. EDT Friday (0051 GMT Saturday).