Concluding an eight-month scientific mission aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Chris Williams returned to Earth on Sunday along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev.

The crew made their safe, parachute-assisted landing at 5:27 am CDT (3:27 pm Kazakhstan time), southeast of Dzhezkazgan, after leaving the space station at 2:03 am, aboard the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.

The crew was in space for 241 days, orbiting Earth 3,856 times and traveling more than 102 million miles. They launched to the International Space Station on November 27, 2025. The mission was the first for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud-Sverchkov.

While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Williams supported a wide range of scientific research and technology demonstrations. It helped advance research into new cancer treatments and improved space manufacturing of materials used in high-performance computers and electronics. Williams also completed two spacewalks to prepare for upgrades to the space station’s power system and to replace a faulty joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The crew’s work aboard the space station helps improve life on Earth and prepare for future human missions to the Moon and Mars.

Following post-landing medical checks, crew members will fly by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where the recovery teams are based. Williams will then board a NASA plane bound for the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

For more than 25 years, people have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and achieving research breakthroughs that were not possible on Earth. The space station helps NASA understand and overcome the challenges of human spaceflight, expand commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit, and lay the foundation for long-duration missions to the Moon, as part of the Artemis program, and to Mars.

For more information about the International Space Station’s research, operations and crews, visit:

www.nasa.gov/station

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Joshua Finch/Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Leah Cheshier/Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
leah.d.cheshier@nasa.gov / anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov