After an extraordinary journey, two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut have returned safely to Earth after an extended mission on the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-25 has landed in Kazakhstan, ending a historic mission for cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, as well as NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

Kononenko exceeded the milestone in space flights

Oleg Kononenko made history by becoming the first person to spend more than 1,000 days in space, and his total time reached an incredible 1,111 days across five missions. His last mission with Chuba lasted 374 days, the longest stay on the ISS to date. Kononenko’s achievement broke the previous record set by cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who spent 878 days in space on multiple missions.

Chub and Dyson complete extended missions

For Nikolai Chub, this was the first space mission, and it lasted a record 374 days. Tracy Caldwell Dyson spent 184 days in space, adding to her previous two spaceflights and bringing her total time in orbit close to Chubb’s single mission duration.

The return of the Soyuz MS-25 crew marked the end of Expedition 71, as they separated from the ISS early in the morning. The spacecraft successfully landed southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, after traveling more than 78 million miles and completing nearly 3,000 orbits around Earth during its mission.

Kononenko’s legacy and future missions

The 60-year-old cosmonaut leaves behind an impressive legacy, having participated in 11 expeditions to the ISS and performed seven spacewalks. Both Kononenko and Chub will return to Star City, Russia, while Dyson will return to Houston, Texas.

Meanwhile, Expedition 72 has officially begun, with a new crew arriving in the coming days aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, continuing ongoing research and exploration aboard the ISS.