Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut have returned to Earth after a six-month stay on board the International Space Station.<br /><br />Former station commander Steve Swanson and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev came back in the same Soyuz capsule that took them up in March.<br /><br />“A pinpoint touchdown”, said a NASA mission commentator of the landing in Kazakhstan.<br /><br />During their time on board the International Space Station, the returning crew tackled a record number of science experiments, upgraded “Robonaut” – the station’s humanoid robot – and repaired broken equipment.<br /><br />“We did a lot of maintenance, which is good and bad,” Swanson said. “I love doing maintenance, but it means things broke.”<br /><br />There were also a couple of space walks.<br /><br />New station commander Max Suraev remains aboard the orbital outpost along with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and the European Space Agency’s Alexander Gerst.<br /><br />Three new crew members, including the first Russian woman to serve on the station, are due to launch later this month.<br /><br />“Getting three new faces up here will be lots of fun,” Wiseman said in an inflight interview.
