NASA astronaut Chris Williams has returned to Earth after an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station, landing on Sunday with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev.
NASA said the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing at 5:27 a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m., Kazakhstan time) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The crew departed the space station at 2:03 a.m.
According to NASA, the mission lasted 241 days, during which the crew orbited Earth 3,856 times and travelled more than 102 million miles. They launched to the space station on Nov. 27, 2025. The flight marked the first space mission for Williams and Mikaev and the second for Kud-Sverchkov.
During the mission, Williams supported scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, including research linked to potential cancer treatments and in-space manufacturing for materials used in computing and electronics, NASA said. He also completed two spacewalks to prepare for power system upgrades and to replace a faulty joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Following post-landing medical checks, the crew was to fly by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams are based. NASA said Williams would then travel by NASA aircraft to the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The return comes as the International Space Station marks more than 25 years of continuous human habitation. NASA said the station continues to support research aimed at understanding the effects of long-duration spaceflight and developing capabilities for future missions, including planned Artemis missions to the Moon and eventual human missions to Mars.