{"id":2653,"date":"2022-03-30T15:55:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T15:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/30\/nasa-astronaut-mark-vande-hei-returns-to-earth-in-russian-space-capsule\/"},"modified":"2022-03-30T15:55:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T15:55:42","slug":"nasa-astronaut-mark-vande-hei-returns-to-earth-in-russian-space-capsule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/03\/30\/nasa-astronaut-mark-vande-hei-returns-to-earth-in-russian-space-capsule\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returns to Earth in Russian space capsule"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/3\/29\/22996778\/nasa-astronaut-mark-vande-hei-russian-soyuz-return-space-station<\/a>
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Update March 30th, 8AM ET: <\/strong><\/em>The Soyuz carrying Mark Vande Hei, Anton Shkaplerov, and Pyotr Dubrov touched down successfully in Kazakhstan at 7:28AM ET. Though wind in the area caused the Soyuz to tip over on its side after landing, all three crew members were extracted from the vehicle safely. After traveling to Karaganda by helicopter, Vande Hei will board a NASA jet to take him back to Houston, Texas.<\/em><\/p>\n

Original Story:<\/strong> Record-breaking NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is set to return to Earth from the International Space Station on early March 30th, coming back in a Russian Soyuz rocket<\/a> along with two Russian cosmonauts. His scheduled journey back to the planet has been an ongoing source of strife these last few weeks, as tensions have dramatically soured between the United States and Russia after the latter\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Vande Hei has been on the ISS since April 2021, when he launched from Kazakhstan on another Soyuz rocket. He was originally going to stay on board for just six months, the standard length of stay for most astronauts on the ISS. But in September, NASA announced that Vande Hei\u2019s stay had been extended<\/a> to better accommodate a few visiting tourists and a Russian movie crew that Russia sent to the ISS at the end of last year. Thanks to the extension, Vande Hei will hold the record for the longest continuous stay in space by an American: 355 days.<\/p>\n

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