Touchdown! Expedition 53 astronauts make successful descent to Earth from ISS

New Delhi: After nearly five months as residents of the International Space Station (ISS), three astronauts who were a part of Expedition 53 landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Randy Bresnik of NASA, Paolo Nespoli of European Space Agency (ESA) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos landed at 2.37 pm Kazakhstan time, NASA said.

One by one, veteran space travelers @SergeyISS, @Astro_Paolo and @AstroKomrade exit their spacecraft into the snow-covered steppe of Kazakhstan. https://t.co/ICHWRQdeAp pic.twitter.com/jrG73jQhMD — Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) December 14, 2017

During their five-month stay, Randy Bresnik led a series of three spacewalks. Along with NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba, the trio replaced one of two latching end effectors on the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2.

They also lubricated the newly replaced Canadarm2 end effector and replaced cameras on the left side of the station's truss and the right side of the station's US Destiny laboratory.

Bresnik has now spent a total of 150 days in space on two flights, while Ryazanskiy has 306 days in space on two flights and Nespoli has logged 313 days in space on his three flights.

The Expedition 54 crew continues operating the station, with Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos in command.

The three-person crew will operate the station until the arrival of three new crew members on December 19, NASA said.

(With IANS inputs)