Back to Earth after four months away

Russian Federal Space Agency rescue vehicles arrive at the scene near the Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft after it landed near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan early yesterday.

The Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and two astronauts, the American Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide of Japan, pictured below smiling after landing, touched down following more than four months aboard the International Space Station.

Eight helicopters rushed search-and-recovery crew to assist the crew, whose capsule did not parachute onto the exact planned touchdown site due to a minimal delay in procedures.

Another three astronauts remain onboard the space station and are to be joined next month by Nasa's Tom Marshburn, Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, and Russia's Roman Romanenko.

The Soyuz is the only means for international astronauts to reach the orbiting laboratory since the decommissioning of the US shuttle fleet in 2011.

Ms Williams, Mr Malenchenko and Mr Hoshide undocked from the space station yesterday to begin their return to earth.

Around 28 minutes before touchdown, the three modules of the Soyuz craft separated, leaving the 2.1-metre tall capsule to begin its entry into orbit.

A series of parachutes deployed to bring the capsule to gentle floating speed.

Winds pulled the descent module on its side in the snowy terrain, which is a common occurrence, but the crew was nonetheless swiftly hoisted out by the recovery crew and lifted onto reclining chairs and swaddled in blankets to shield them from the -11 Celsius degree temperature.

The chairs are designed to afford the astronauts comfortable acclimatisation after months of living in gravity-free conditions.

"For me, everything was very good," a smiling Ms Williams told recovery staff, speaking in Russian.