Free Republic

June 3, 2018 — A Russian spacecraft carrying three crew members home from a five month stay on the International Space Station returned to Earth on Sunday (June 3). Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, Norishige "Neemo" Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and astronaut Scott "Maker" Tingle of NASA touched down aboard Russia's Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan. Descending under a parachute, the gumdrop-shape capsule was further slowed by braking thrusters and landed southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:39 a.m. EDT (1239 GMT or 6:39 p.m. local Kazakh time). "That was a good ride!"...

A record-setting Russian spacewalk ended with a critical antenna in the wrong position Friday outside the International Space Station. NASA’s Mission Control reported that the antenna was still working. Nevertheless, Russian space officials were convening a special team to see whether further action would be necessary. The antenna is used for communications with Russia’s Mission Control outside Moscow. The trouble arose toward the end of the more than 8-hour spacewalk — the longest ever by Russians and the fifth longest overall — after Commander Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov successfully replaced an electronics box to upgrade the antenna.