{"id":19537,"date":"2015-12-11T18:50:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T10:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/rare-after-dark-landing-brings-space-station-trio-home-for-the-holidays\/"},"modified":"2015-12-11T18:50:52","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T10:50:52","slug":"rare-after-dark-landing-brings-space-station-trio-home-for-the-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/rare-after-dark-landing-brings-space-station-trio-home-for-the-holidays\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare after-dark landing brings space station trio home for the holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"151211-kjell2\"
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren makes his first call home after descending to Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft today. (Credit: NASA TV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It took some doing, but three crew members from the International Space Station returned to Earth today and are on their way home in time for Christmas.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Kjell Lindgren, Russia\u2019s Oleg Kononenko and Japan\u2019s Kimiya Yui touched down on the steppes of Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz capsule at 7:12 p.m. local time (5:12 a.m. PT), marking the first time since 2012 that a space station crew came down after dark. It\u2019s the sixth night landing for the Soyuz in the 15 years since astronauts started living on the station.<\/p>\n

The shift to an after-dark landing was made to accommodate the Dec. 21 launch of an upgraded Progress supply ship.<\/p>\n

The winter weather in Kazakhstan brought further complications: Fewer recovery helicopters were sent out, and instead of doing medical exams at the landing site, the returning spacefliers were hustled onto the copters for a flight to the nearest airport. NASA photographer Bill Ingalls tweeted that he couldn\u2019t cover the landing, but was \u201chappy the crew is safe and home.\u201d<\/p>\n