![Mark Vande Hei, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov [Courtesy: NASA]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/swdsdwedfew.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
WASHINGTON, March 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A Soyuz space capsule transporting two Russian cosmonauts and a US astronaut back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) landed safely in central Kazakhstan on Wednesday, live images broadcast by NASA showed.
Astronaut Mark Vande Hei joined cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov on their return trip to Earth, quashing speculation that Vande Hei might not fly back on the Russian spacecraft in light of tensions over the war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Shkaplerov handed over command of the ISS to US astronaut Thomas Marshburn and in a short speech to the crew said that the ISS remained a “symbol of cooperation” despite “problems” on Earth.
Marshburn in turn thanked him, saying that it was an “honour and a privilege” for him to become commander of the ISS.
Both Vande Hei and Dubrov arrived at the ISS together on April 9, 2021. During his stay on the space station, the 55-year-old Vande Hei broke Scott Kelly’s record for the longest stay in space by a US astronaut, clocking up an impressive 341 consecutive days. — NNN-AGENCIES
