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[b]Soyuz TMA-20 lands on Earth[/b] After spending 159 days in space — 157 onboard the International Space Station — Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli landed safely on Earth onboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft. Touchdown was recorded at 9:27 p.m. CDT on Monday (May 23), southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Russian recovery teams were on hand to help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and adjust to gravity after their five-month stay in space. Kondratyev will return to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside of Moscow, while NASA's Coleman and ESA's Nespoli will fly directly to Houston. During their mission, the Expedition 26 and 27 crewmates worked on over 150 experiments in human research, biology and biotechnology, physical and materials sciences, technology development and Earth and space sciences. A quick succession of international space vehicles arrived on the station's loading docks during the five months the trio spent in orbit. The Japanese Kounotori2, or "white stork," H-II Transfer Vehicle 2; two Russian Progress cargo ships; the European Johannes Kepler Automated Transfer Vehicle-2; and, on their final flights, shuttles Discovery and Endeavour delivered more than 15 tons of supplies necessary for working and living aboard the station, as well as the new cosmic ray detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. A veteran of three spaceflights, Coleman has logged 179 days in space. During two flights, Nespoli has spent 174 days in space. It was the first mission for Kondratyev. Expedition 28 commander Andrey Borisenko and flight engineers Ron Garan and Alexander Samokutyaev remain aboard the station. Three new Expedition 28 crew members, Soyuz commander Sergei Volkov and flight engineers Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard Soyuz TMA-02M at 2:15 p.m. CDT June 7 (2:15 a.m. Baikonur time June 8) and will dock to the complex two days later.
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