Three Astronauts Return To Earth After 204 Days Aboard International Space Station

Three astronauts have made it back to Earth after completing a 204-day mission including 3,264 orbits of the planet totaling up to 86.4 million miles. The astronauts spent around six months on the International Space Station (ISS).

The Soyuz capsule with astronauts from Canada, Russia and the United States landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 8-47 a.m. (0247GMT), after three hours of flight from the ISS. Anne McClain of the United States and David Saint-Jacques of Canada completed the flight for the first time. While the expedition commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia was on his fourth space mission.

Americans Nick Hague and Christina Koch and Russia's Alexey Ovchinin are still aboard the ISS. The astronauts were made to sit in the sun for initial medical checks. Kononenko whiles speaking to the press said he was "happy to see any kind of weather" after spending over 200 days in space.

Previously, NASA astronaut Christina Koch has captured a mesmerizing image of the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis for the International Space Station (ISS). The image was captured during one of the space station's 15 orbits of the planets.

The ISS orbits around our planet about 15 times every day, and it takes the space lab 90 minutes to complete a full circle. The frequent orbits of the ISS allow astronauts to take some stunning images from space.

The new images posted by Christina Koch shows the Southern Lights in full glory. These polar lights are colorful streams of excited gas that exists in the upper parts of the atmosphere.

Besides, NASA has shared some images of the Earth taken from the International Space Station. The images taken from outer space shows our planet in its night glory.

"Earth is special. It's the only place in the universe that we know contains life. Celebrate its beauty by taking a look at these breathtaking images of our home planet, as captured by crew members aboard the @Space_Station," NASA's tweet read.