NASA Astronaut Reaches Earth after Spending 355 Days in Space

WASHINGTON : Mark Vande Hei, who spent 355 days in low-Earth orbit- the longest continuous stay in space by an American - has safely returned to Earth along with two cosmonauts aboard a Russian spacecraft.

Vande Hei, along with Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, began the journey back to Earth at 3.21 a.m. EDT (12.51 pm IST) on a Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft and had a parachute-assisted landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan, southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan, at 7.28 a.m. EDT (4:58 pm IST).

His journey home has been a source of concern amid the Ukraine conflict. After the war began, a month ago, several sanctions were imposed on Russia by the US and many European countries, which affected long standing relations on economic, political as well space cooperation.

While media reports speculated about Vande Hei being left on the ISS, Russia officially denied the speculation.

"The US astronaut due to return to Earth soon will do so as scheduled on board Russia's space capsule vehicle on March 30," a report in TASS, a Russian state news organisation, said. (IANS)

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