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Nasa astronauts including record-breaking Christina Koch drop back down to Earth from International Space Station

Long mission should shed light on the long-term effects of staying in space

Andrew Griffin
Thursday 06 February 2020 11:10 GMT
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Nasa astronauts drop back down to Earth from International Space Station

Record-breaking Nasa astronaut Christina Koch has dropped down to Earth, along with her two colleagues from the International Space Station.

Koch spent nearly 11 months in orbit aboard the station, setting the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman.

That mission came to an end when the three crewmates landed safely in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz capsule carrying Koch, along with station Commander Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency and the Russian space agency Roscosmos' Alexander Skvortsov, touched down southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Thursday at 3:12 pm local time.

Koch wrapped up a 328-day mission on her first flight into space, providing researchers the opportunity to observe the effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman. The study is important since NASA plans to return to the moon under the Artemis program and prepare for the human exploration of Mars.

Koch smiled and gave a thumbs-up as support crew helped her get out of the capsule and placed her in a chair for a quick post-flight check-up alongside her crewmates. Russian space officials said they were in good shape.

Koch, who grew up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and now lives near the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas, with her husband, Bob, told The Associated Press last month that taking part in the first all-female spacewalk was the highlight of her mission.

Koch said she and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir appreciated that the 18 October spacewalk "could serve as an inspiration for future space explorers."

Parmitano and Skvortsov spent 201 days in space.

After preliminary medical evaluations, the crew will be flown by Russian helicopters to the city of Karaganda in Kazakhstan. Koch and Parmitano will then board a NASA plane bound for Cologne, Germany, where Parmitano will be greeted by European space officials before Koch proceeds home to Houston.

Skvortsov will be flown to the Star City Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow.

Additional reporting by agencies

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