Space

From isolation to isolation, ISS return to Earth

cde.news desk 17 April 2020, 20:15 · 1 min read

A handout photo made available by Roscosmos shows Expedition 62 members (front L-R) NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir sit in chairs shortly after landing of the Soyuz MS-15 space capsule in a remote area outside Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, 17 April 2020. Expedition 62 completed their mission at the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, which safely landed in Kazakh steppe. EPA-EFE/ANDREY SHELEPIN / GCTC / ROSCOSMOS HANDOUT

A crew of three has returned from the International Space Station (ISS) to a very different planet they left last year.

Their Soyuz landing capsule landed under a striped orange-and-white parachute about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan.

No strangers to isolation, Russian Oleg Skripochka and Jessica Meir from the US left Earth in September 2019, well before Covid-19 emerged.

Another American, Andrew Morgan, has been on the ISS since July 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the usual routine for returning space crews.

“It’s quite surreal to see it unfolding on Earth below,” Ms Meir told reporters during a recent video call. “From here, Earth looks just as stunning as usual, so it’s hard to believe all of the changes that have taken place since we left.”

The trio touched down on Earth at 05:16 GMT, with Mr Skripochka and Ms Meir having spent 205 days in space, and Mr Morgan 272 days.

From isolation to isolation, ISS return to Earth

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