BBC Online :
Media caption Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov and Samantha Cristoforetti hugged their colleagues before the hatch closed
Three astronauts are due to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), after the loss of a spacecraft delayed an earlier attempt.
The trio handed control of the ISS over to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, after more than 200 days in space.
Among them is Samantha Cristoforetti, who has set the record for most time in space on a single mission by a woman.
Their Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 11:20 BST and will land in Kazakhstan more than three hours later.
Samantha Cristoforetti, 38, introduced an espresso machine to the ISS
The commander of Expedition 43, Terry Virts, and his crewmates Anton Shkaplerov and Ms Cristoforetti have spent almost seven months on board the ISS carrying out scientific research and technology demonstrations.
According to a Nasa press release, they have travelled more than 84 million miles since their launch into space on 24 November. They were originally due to leave a month ago, but their departure was delayed after the failure of a supply spaceship. The out-of-control unmanned Progress M-27M burnt up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The delay meant that on 6 June Samantha Cristoforetti set a new world record for most time spent in space by a woman on a single mission after clocking up more than 194 days.
Media caption Terry Virts, Anton Shkaplerov and Samantha Cristoforetti hugged their colleagues before the hatch closed
Three astronauts are due to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), after the loss of a spacecraft delayed an earlier attempt.
The trio handed control of the ISS over to Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, after more than 200 days in space.
Among them is Samantha Cristoforetti, who has set the record for most time in space on a single mission by a woman.
Their Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the ISS at 11:20 BST and will land in Kazakhstan more than three hours later.
Samantha Cristoforetti, 38, introduced an espresso machine to the ISS
The commander of Expedition 43, Terry Virts, and his crewmates Anton Shkaplerov and Ms Cristoforetti have spent almost seven months on board the ISS carrying out scientific research and technology demonstrations.
According to a Nasa press release, they have travelled more than 84 million miles since their launch into space on 24 November. They were originally due to leave a month ago, but their departure was delayed after the failure of a supply spaceship. The out-of-control unmanned Progress M-27M burnt up as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The delay meant that on 6 June Samantha Cristoforetti set a new world record for most time spent in space by a woman on a single mission after clocking up more than 194 days.
