After almost five months in the stars, three crew members return home from the International Space Station.<br/> <br />The trio are helped from the cramped confines of their Soyuz space capsule shortly after landing Saturday in Kazakhstan.<br/> <br />With the temperatures well below freezing, the astronauts - led by American commander Kevin Ford - are bundled into blankets during a quick checkup.<br/> <br />They spent 144 days onboard the space station, travelling a total of 98 million kilometres.<br/> <br />Meanwhile, their replacements are getting ready to blast off.<br/> <br />In Russia, another tree-man team said goodbye to their families ahead of a planned March 28 launch.<br/> <br />Commander Pavel Vinogradov told reporters the trio were excited, though they have a lot of work ahead of them.<br/> <br />Their trip will mark the 36th mission to the 100 billion dollar International Space Station, which is constantly staffed.
