The Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft has successfully returned to Earth, bringing back NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner after a 220-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The capsule landed safely on the Kazakh steppe near Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. local time on Sunday, April 20, 2025. 

During their mission, the crew orbited Earth 3,520 times, covering approximately 93.3 million miles. This was Pettit's fourth spaceflight, bringing his total time in space to 590 days. 

Upon landing, the crew underwent standard medical evaluations. Pettit will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Ovchinin and Vagner will head to Russia’s Star City training base. 

The Soyuz MS-26 mission launched on September 11, 2024, and docked with the ISS the same day. The crew contributed to various scientific experiments and maintenance tasks during their stay.

Their safe return marks the conclusion of Expedition 72 and the beginning of Expedition 73, with Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi assuming command of the ISS.