Almaty (Kazakhstan) (AFP)

An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts from the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth on Thursday, after a six-month mission in space, which began in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

American Chris Cassidy (Nasa) and Russians Anatoly Ivanichine and Ivan Vagner (Roskosmos) landed at 02:54 GMT in the steppes of Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia where Russia operates the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to reports. images broadcast by Roscosmos.

In particular, we see Chris Cassidy nodding his elbow to a member of the staff at the landing site, before the three astronauts are taken to a tent for medical examinations.

"How are you?"

Cassidy asked in Russian, all smiles.

Coronavirus epidemic requires, the three men had left without fanfare for the ISS on April 9.

They had been confined to their training center near Moscow and said their farewells without an audience, their relatives not having been allowed to attend their last press briefing.

They were joined on May 31 by Americans Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley who performed the first manned flight made by the private American group SpaceX.

This mission marked the return of American transport to the ISS, after a nine-year hiatus in favor of Russian Soyuz rockets.

Ahead of his return from his third space mission, American Chris Cassidy, 50, tweeted a photo of blood samples that astronauts have to collect while on the ISS.

"What is the price of a return to Earth? .... 8 tubes of blood! The 7 shown in this photo were taken in the morning to be placed in our freezer, and the 8th will be taken just before undocking, "he wrote.

"Mom I'm coming home," tweeted on Wednesday Ivan Vagner, 35, whose first assignment was.

Anatoly Ivanichine was completing his third space mission.

On October 13, a Soyuz MS-17 vessel with the American Kathleen Rubins on board, and the Russians Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Koud-Svertchkov joined the trio to take over.

The ISS is one of the rare examples of cooperation between Moscow and Washington.

Sixteen countries are participating in the 1998 orbiting station, outpost and orbital laboratory which cost a total of $ 100 billion, mostly funded by Russia and the United States.

It is expected to be dismantled over the next decade, due to structural wear and tear.

© 2020 AFP