"Landing confirmed! #SoyuzTMA17M! After a six-month space voyage, the ISS Crew 44/45 safely returned to Earth," tweeted the Russian space agency Roscosmos, confirming the return of Russia's Oleg Kononenko, Japan's Kimiya Yui, and Kjell Lindgren of the United States.
ЕСТЬ ПОСАДКА #СоюзТМА17М! После полугодовой космической командировки экипаж МКС-44/45 благополучно вернулся на Землю pic.twitter.com/ZIMpzslLTZ
— РОСКОСМОС (@fka_roscosmos) 11 декабря 2015
Three crewmembers of the International Space Station were safely extracted from the Soyuz reentry capsule after landing in Kazakhstan on Friday and they are in good health, a spokesman for Russia's Mission Control said.
"The crewmembers are feeling well. The returning 'space travelers' will undergo a thorough medical check-up before heading to their home countries," the official told RIA Novosti.
The ISS program is a joint project among five participating space agencies: the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Russia’s Roscosmos, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
The station is divided into two sections — the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS).