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Expedition 11 Back on Earth

Expedition 11 Back on Earth
Expedition 11 Flight Engineer John Phillips smiles after a successful landing in Kazakhstan on Monday, October 10. Phillips and his commander, Sergei Krikalev, returned on a Soyuz spacecraft after a six-month stint on the international space station. Spaceflight Participant Gregory Olsen returned with them after spending eight days on board.

Expedition 11 Flight Engineer John Phillips smiles after a successful landing in Kazakhstan on Monday, October 10. Phillips and his commander, Sergei Krikalev, returned on a Soyuz spacecraft after a six-month stint on the international space station. Spaceflight Participant Gregory Olsen returned with them after spending eight days on board.
Expedition 11 was a mission filled with key milestones. The crew welcomed the shuttle Discovery on its Return to Flight mission in July. In June, Phillips became the first American to give congressional testimony from space. And in August, Krikalev set the human record for time in space. He now has a total of 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes in orbit.
The station is now in the hands of Expedition 12, Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev. They will remain in orbit six months and perform at least two spacewalks, the first in early November.Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls+ Space Station Section