“> See all stories on this topic Record-holding US astronaut and 2 Russians return to Earth An American astronaut who set the United States record for cumulative time in orbit securely went back to Earth early Wednesday along with two Russian cosmonauts after a six-month objective aboard the International Spaceport station. NASA’s Jeff Williams, 58, logged 534 days in space over 4 objectives. The ISS commander landed at 7:13 local time (0113 GMT) on the steppes of main Kazakhstan aboard a Russian-made Soyuz capsule together with Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka. “Touchdown! Welcome home @Astro_Jeff, officially back in the world after 172-day mission & total 534 days on 4 missions,” NASA tweeted. A NASA live video feed showed Williams on the ground smiling and waving while talking on a satellite phone before being carried away for medical tests. The three guys undocked from the ISS nearly 3 and a half hours earlier after spending their mission mainly carrying out clinical experiments. Williams carried out five space walks, consisting of one along with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins to set up a docking adapter for future business Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules to visit the spaceport station. “Williams was instrumental in preparing the station for the future arrival of US commercial team spacecraft,” NASA said in a statement. He likewise helped establish an experimental short-lived inflatable module designed by Bigelow Aerospace to test expandable habitats astronauts might use on the Moon or Mars in the coming years. The retired Army colonel beat the previous United States record set by astronaut Scott Kelly during his year in orbit. He went back to the International Space Station in 2006 when the space station was far smaller– with just two modules and 3 team members– and once again in 2009. Today, the ISS is staffed by six astronauts and cosmonauts and spans the size of a football field. Williams may hold the US record for time in orbit, however Russia’s Gennady Padalka still holds the record for the individual with the most advancing days in space at 879. A grandfather of 3 is poised to blast into area and the record books on Friday, becoming the American astronaut who has spent the longest time in space, NASA said. A Russian rocket lifted off from the Baikonur area base Friday, bring three crew to the International Spaceport station, including a United States grandfather who is poised to enter the record books. 3 brand-new crew members have actually joined the International Space Station, including a United States grandpa who is poised to get in the record books during his time there, NASA said. Station Leader Jeff Williams passed astronaut Scott Kelly, likewise a former station commander, for a lot of cumulative days living and operating in area by a NASA astronaut (520 days and counting). Williams is set up to land … Two US astronauts aboard the International Space Station effectively finished a spacewalk Thursday to make repairs and set up brand-new devices. New research study by the University of Surrey published today in the journal Monthly Notifications of the Royal Astronomical Society has shone light on a globular cluster of stars that could host numerous hundred black holes, a phenomenon … The discovery of two huge holes punched through a stream of stars could assist address questions about the nature of dark matter, the mysterious substance holding galaxies together. New scenes from a freezing alien landscape are emerging in current radar images of Saturn’s biggest moon, Titan, from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. An asteroid that may hold the secret to life is getting its first visitor in billions of years. Dwarf galaxies are enigmas covered in riddles. Although they are the smallest galaxies, they represent a few of the biggest secrets about our universe. While numerous dwarf galaxies surround our own Galaxy, there appear to … (Phys.org)– A Jupiter-family comet, designated 15P/Finlay, has actually experienced 2 large-scale outbursts during its perihelion passage at the end of 2014 and the start of 2015. The latter was observed by a team of astronomers, … Please sign in to include a remark. Registration is complimentary, and takes less than a minute. Find out more
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