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2 Russians, American return to Earth after a year at the International Space Station. Nasa’s Frank Rubio sets US record

  • The trio returned to Earth six months late because their original spacecraft sprang a leak so a replacement had to be sent up to get them back
  • Frank Rubio spent 371 days in space, surpassing the previous Nasa record of 355 consecutive days set by now-retired US astronaut Mark Vande Hei

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From left, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year after their original capsule was hit by space junk. Photo: AP/Pool
Associated Press

US astronaut Frank Rubio, who broke the record for the longest continuous space flight by an American, and two Russian cosmonauts landed in the steppe of Kazakhstan on Wednesday after more than a year on the International Space Station (ISS).

Their Soyuz MS-23 capsule undocked from the ISS a minute earlier than scheduled, and took around three and a half hours to make it down to Earth, landing southeast of the city of Zhezqazghan

“The crew feel fine,” Moscow mission control said as the capsule parachuted down and landed in a cloud of dust. “The landing has taken place.”

“The crew have returned to earth after a year on the ISS,” said Russia’s Roscosmos, Russia’s space corporation.

The Soyuz MS-23 space capsule carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew descends beneath a parachute before landing in a remote area near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Photo: Nasa/Handout via Reuters
The Soyuz MS-23 space capsule carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew descends beneath a parachute before landing in a remote area near Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Photo: Nasa/Handout via Reuters

Rubio, who is 47 and on his first space voyage, travelled back to Earth with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev, 48, and Dmitry Petelin, 40. Prokopyev was shown smiling beside the capsule.

They are six months late to return because their original spacecraft sprang a leak so a replacement had to be sent up to get them back. That gave the two Russians and Rubio an unexpectedly extended mission of 371 days in orbit.

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