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Added on the 30/05/2017 16:31:30 - Copyright : AFP EN
NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov hug their International Space Station crewmates before boarding a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to Earth. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev closes the hatch of the capsule. NASA, earlier in March, said tensions linked to the war in Ukraine had no impact on ISS operations or the planned return of an American astronaut aboard a Russian capsule later this month. There have been fears that soaring tensions between the United States and Russia over Ukraine could leave the 55-year-old stranded on the outpost. There had been fears that soaring tensions between the United States and Russia over Ukraine could leave the 55-year-old Vande Hei stranded on the outpost. IMAGES
After a few last words with his partner, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet gets into the car that will take him and his three crewmates to the Crew Dragon. The capsule is due to liftoff at 09:49 GMT for the International Space Station (ISS). IMAGES
American astronaut Christina Koch, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano are set to return to Earth from the International Space Station on Thursday. Koch will touch down in Kazakhstan after 328 days at the ISS as the holder of the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. Parmitano of the European Space Agency and Skvortsov of Roscosmos are rounding off standard half-year missions. IMAGES
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa returns to Earth after 12 days at the International Space Station. Footage from the landing site, around 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of the central Kazakhstan town of Zhezkazgan, shows Maezawa, his assistant Yozo Hirano, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin smiling after being helped out of the Soyuz descent module and into evacuation vehicles in freezing, foggy conditions. IMAGES
Images of the four astronauts coming out of SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule after a busy six months on the International Space Station, landing off the coast of Florida. IMAGES
"All the ground teams really across the world made it easy on us to live and work onboard the ISS," astronaut Thomas Pesquet says during a change of command ceremony aboard the International Space Station. SOUNDBITE