Astronauts Touch Down on Soyuz MS-25 After Journey of a Lifetime – 78 Million Miles

Oleg Kononenko After Landing
Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is helped out of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft just minutes after he, Roscosmos cosmonaut Nikolai Chub, and NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Monday, September 23, 2024. Dyson is returning to Earth after logging 184 days in space as a member of Expeditions 70-71 aboard the International Space Station and Chub and Kononenko return after having spent the last 374 days in space. Credit: NASA/GCTC/Pavel Shvets

After 184 days orbiting Earth, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and two crewmates successfully returned, landing in Kazakhstan.

The mission, involving multiple international astronauts, covered millions of miles and thousands of orbits, contributing significantly to space exploration. Notably, Cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko set a record with over 1,111 days in space across five missions.

Soyuz MS-25 Spacecraft Parachute
The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, Monday, September 23, 2024. Credit: NASA/GCTC/Pavel Shvets

Successful Landing of Soyuz MS-25

At 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time), the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 184 days in space, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched on March 23, and arrived at the station on March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy, and spaceflight participant Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Tracy C. Dyson, Oleg Kononenko, and Nikolai Chub
Individual pre-flight crew portraits of NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub wearing their Soyuz launch and landing suits. Credit: NASA

Record-Setting Space Endeavors

Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, returned after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her third spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and returned with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

Soyuz MS-25 Spacecraft Undocks From International Space Station
The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station’s Prichal module at 4:36 a.m. EDT with NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko. Credit: NASA

Post-Mission Procedures

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.