The crew of Expedition 52, including National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut and record-holder Peggy Whitson, landed back on Earth in Kazakhstan’s Dzhezkazgan on Sunday, Nasa’s statement said. The mission’s crew also included Flight Engineer Jack Fischer of Nasa and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The mission, which began in November 2016 and spanned 4,623 orbits of Earth, is Whitson’s third long duration stint on the International Space Station. With this mission, she has spent a total 665 days in space, the longest by any American. This also places her eighth on the all-time endurance list, the agency said.
Whitson, who holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman, returned to Earth after completing a 228-day mission. She is also the first woman to command the International Space Station twice.
Fischer, completed 136 days in space, during which he conducted the first and second spacewalks of his career. Yurchikhin, has a total of 673 days in space, placing him in seventh position on the all-time endurance list, the Nasa statement said.
The Expedition 52 crew pursued “hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard humanity’s only orbiting laboratory,” Nasa said.
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