NASA astronaut Chris Williams and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev returned to Earth on July 26, landing in Kazakhstan after an eight-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Their Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft touched down at 5:27 a.m. CDT southeast of Dzhezkazgan following departure from the station at 2:03 a.m. The crew spent 241 days in orbit, circling Earth 3,856 times and covering more than 102 million miles. This was Williams' first spaceflight and Mikaev's first mission, while Kud-Sverchkov had flown once before.
Williams conducted two spacewalks during the mission to support station power system upgrades and to replace a faulty joint on the Canadarm2 robotic arm. He also supported multiple research investigations, including work on new cancer treatments and in-space manufacturing of materials for high-performance computers and electronics. The crew's research contributes to understanding challenges of long-duration spaceflight and building capabilities for Moon and Mars missions under the Artemis program.
The crew launched to the station on November 27, 2025, marking the start of their eight-month increment. Following post-landing medical checks in Kazakhstan, Williams will return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston by aircraft, with the other crew members recovering at Karaganda.
The International Space Station has maintained continuous human presence for more than 25 years, serving as a platform for research impossible on Earth and as a testbed for deep space exploration. The station remains central to NASA's strategy for developing the technical foundation needed for sustained lunar operations and eventual crewed missions to Mars.