Astronauts return to Earth in 'textbook homecoming' after monthlong delay

Trio landed safely in Kazakhstan on Thursday after return from ISS was delayed by Russian rocket failure

Two Western astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut have landed in Kazakhstan, safely returning to Earth after their flight back home was delayed for a month by a Russian rocket failure.

Both Russian mission control and Nasa showed a capsule carrying Russian Anton Shkaplerov, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Terry Virts of the United States landing on schedule in the steppes of Kazakhstan after 199 days in space.