Expedition Six Crew Lands in Kazakhstan
Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin
and NASA ISS Science Officer Don Pettit landed at 9:07 p.m. CDT Saturday
(0207 GMT Sunday) after spending more than five months at the
International Space Station. The landing was also the first time U.S.
astronauts have returned to Earth on a Soyuz.

Their Soyuz TMA-1 capsule touched down about about 460 kilometers (285
miles) short of its targeted area. They were located by a search
aircraft about 11:30 p.m. CDT Saturday (0430 GMT Sunday). Reports
indicate that all three crewmembers are in good health.

Their post-retrieval schedule includes going to Star City, Russia, where
they will undergo physical rehabilitation and be debriefed at the
Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Bowersox and Pettit are slated to
return to Houston, Texas, in mid-May.

Before leaving the station, Bowersox handed over control of the orbital
outpost to Expedition Seven Commander Yuri Malenchenko during a change
of command ceremony. Then Expedition Six said goodbye to Malenchenko and
his crewmate, NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu, before entering the Soyuz.
They undocked from the station at 5:43 p.m. CDT (2243 GMT) Saturday. 

Malenchenko and Lu arrived at the station April 28 aboard the Soyuz
TMA-2 spacecraft and will spend six months aboard the ISS. They are
slated to leave the station in early November when the Expedition eight
crewmembers replace them. 

NASA TV Note:
Any post-landing video of the Expedition Six crew will be shown on NASA
TV as soon as possible.