ISS 61st expedition successfully lands in Kazakhstan

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Three crew members of the 61st expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) successfully landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

A capsule with Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Skvortsov, U.S. NASA astronaut Christina Koch and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano from the European Space Agency made touchdown in the Kazakh steppe 147 kilometers (91 miles) from the city of Jezkazgan, the Russian Mission Control Center said in a statement.

The landing went smoothly and the crew members' general physical and mental health is in good condition, it said.

During the 126-day expedition of the 61st expedition, Christina Koch set a new record for the longest continuous time in space by a woman, having remained on the ISS for 328 days and 14 hours. Koch began her stay on the ISS on March 14, 2019, with Expedition 59.

She also broke a record for the number of female spacewalks during one flight, completing six tasks in open space.

Also, together with Jessica Meir, she took part in the first women all-female spacewalk on Oct. 18, 2019.

Aleksandr Skvortsov operated the first human-like robot, Fyodor, in space conditions. The robot worked with a screwdriver, docked electrical connectors, used equipment and answered questions from the crew.

Parmitano also carried out several spacewalks, during one of which he faced an emergency situation when 10 milliliters (0.3 ounces) of liquid accumulated in his spacesuit.

The crew managed to perform several experiments and studied the behavior of terrestrial bodies in space conditions.