Russian spacecraft brings 3 astronauts safely back to Earth

A Russian space capsule successfully landed in Kazakhstan on Saturday, bringing back a three-member crew from the International Space Station, including a record-breaking Russian cosmonaut.

The "Soyuz TMA-16M" spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, Kazakh cosmonaut Aydin Aimbetov and Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen landed on the steppe 146 km southeast of the Kazakh city of Dzhezkazgan just before sunrise, the TASS news agency reported.

About 200 soldiers of the Central Military District of Russia, 14 helicopters, four planes and 15 units of vehicles were involved in a search and rescue operation after the landing.

The astronauts returned with a good mood. Padalka set a record in the cumulative time spent in space. During five flights he spent 878 days outside Earth, more than the 803 days the previous record holder, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, spent in space.

"Soyuz TMA-16M" was launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on March 27 and docked with the space station after six hours.