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The descent capsule of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-12M manned spacecraft with international crew on board has successfully landed in the pre-planned area about 147 kilometers southeast of the city of Zheskazgan in Kazakhstan, the representative of the Mission Control Center told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

“Landing succeeded,” reads the sign on the Mission Control Center’s screens.

The returnees, Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronaut Steven Swanson have spent 170 days in space.

Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev, US astronaut Reid Wiseman and the European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst continue their work at the International Space Station (ISS).

The safety of the Soyuz spacecraft landing was ensured by about 200 servicemen, 14 helicopters Mi-8, three planes AN-13 and AN-26 and six cross-country vehicles.

On September 26, next crew of the ISS expedition, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore, is due to launch from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-14M.