After completing an eight‑month scientific mission aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Chris Williams landed back on Earth on Sunday, accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud‑Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev.
The crew performed a safe, parachute‑assisted landing at 5:27 a.m. Central Daylight Time (3:27 p.m. Kazakhstan time) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, after undocking from the space station at 2:03 a.m. aboard the Soyuz MS‑28 spacecraft.
The crew spent 241 days in orbit, circling Earth 3,856 times and covering more than 102 million miles. Their launch to the International Space Station occurred on 27 November 2025. This mission marked the first flight for Williams and Mikaev and the second flight for Kud‑Sverchkov.
During their time on the orbiting laboratory, Williams contributed to numerous scientific investigations and technology demonstrations. He advanced research into novel cancer therapies and enhanced in‑space manufacturing of materials for high‑performance computers and electronics. Additionally, he conducted two spacewalks to ready the station for power‑system upgrades and to replace a defective joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The crew’s activities aboard the station advance life‑support technologies on Earth and lay the groundwork for future human missions to the Moon and Mars.
After completing post‑landing medical examinations, the crew will be transported by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are stationed. Williams will then board a NASA aircraft destined for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
For more than 25 years, humans have continuously inhabited and worked on the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and achieving breakthroughs unattainable on Earth. The station enables NASA to study and mitigate the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and support long‑duration missions to the Moon under the Artemis program and to Mars.
