Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft brings US, Russia crew back to earth | Space News

Landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan coincides with US astronaut Donald Pettit’s 70th birthday.

Russian astronauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Wagner have returned to Earth along with American Donald Pettit after a seven-month science mission on board the International Space Station (ISS).

The Russian Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying the trio touched down southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 6:20am (01:20 GMT) on Sunday, the landing confirmed by the United States’s NASA and…