NASA astronaut Chris Williams safely returned to Earth on Sunday, concluding a 241-day science mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
He landed alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev after completing an 8-month mission in space.
The Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft made a safe parachute-assisted landing at 5:27 a.m. CDT (3:27 p.m. Kazakhstan time) southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, after undocking from the space station at 2:03 a.m.
During the mission, the crew orbited Earth 3,856 times and traveled more than 102 million miles. They launched to the International Space Station on Nov. 27, 2025. The mission marked the 1st spaceflight for Chris Williams and Sergei Mikaev, and the 2nd for Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.
While aboard the orbiting laboratory, Williams supported several scientific investigations and technology demonstrations. His work contributed to research on potential cancer treatments and improved in-space manufacturing of materials used in high-performance computers and electronics.
Williams also completed 2 spacewalks to prepare the station for future power system upgrades and to replace a faulty joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. The research and maintenance work carried out during the mission is expected to benefit life on Earth while supporting future human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
After landing, the crew underwent routine medical checks before traveling by helicopter to Karaganda, Kazakhstan, where recovery teams were stationed. Williams will then fly aboard a NASA aircraft to the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
For more than 25 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the International Space Station, conducting research that cannot be performed on Earth. The station continues to support scientific discoveries, expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, and help prepare for future long-duration missions to the Moon under the Artemis program and eventually to Mars.
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