A Russian Soyuz capsule has landed on the Kazakh steppe, delivering a trio of astronauts returning from the International Space Station from a four-month stint on the International Space Station.

The Soyuz TMA-05M capsule, carrying Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams, parachuted through dark, cloudy skies and touched down at 7:56 a.m. local time today.

The capsule landed near the northern Kazakh town of Arkalyk.

The crew returned after spending 125 days aboard the International Space Station, a 100 billion U.S. dollar research complex involving 15 countries and orbiting 240 miles (385 km) above Earth.

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