Added Voss: "I'm looking forward to relaxing a bit. Five months of really hard work, I think, warrants a little bit of relaxation."

Launched March 8 aboard Discovery, the so-called Expedition Two crew boarded the outpost two days later, setting out on a mission that capped the first full phase of the $60 billion station construction project, which involves 16 nations and 100,000 workers on four continents.

Serving the second full-time residency aboard the outpost, the trio activated critical systems within the station's U.S. Destiny science laboratory and started up outpost research in earnest.

They hosted a visiting Soyuz taxi crew that included Dennis Tito, the world's first fare-paying space tourist, and they carried out two assembly jobs deemed key to future station expansion.

Both the station's $600 million Canadian robot arm and a $164 million airlock were delivered, installed and activated on their watch, work that will enable future station crews to perform outpost construction and maintenance jobs without a visiting shuttle present.

Start-up problems with the Canadian crane, and trouble with the station's three main U.S. command and control computers, hampered their work bit, but the crew -- in concert with ground controllers -- was able to overcome those obstacles and finish all their objectives.

"I think the thing I was most surprised by is that we got everything done that we were supposed to get done while we were up here," Voss said.

"And I attribute that to the great crews that came up to visit us and to work up on the space station, and our wonderful team on the ground that solved all the problems that got in our way -- the little roadblocks and things that hindered us," he added.

"But together with them, we were able to accomplish everything. And I'm really pleased to see that it all worked out."

The two American flight engineers and their cosmonaut colleagues, meanwhile, each will face a different set of circumstances when it comes to picking back up with life on Earth.

Usachev, 43, will spend 10 days undergoing medical tests at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston before heading home to Moscow with his wife, Vera, and 12-year-old daughter, Evgenia.

Voss, 52, will return to a suburban Houston home that has undergone a couple of significant changes since he flew off to the station, leaving his wife, Susan -- who is a NASA manager at JSC -- to fend for herself.

"A lot of things have happened in my house. We have a new air conditioner because (the old one) failed: My wife took care of that. We've had our house painted. We had termite control because she found some termites," he said. "A lot of things have changed there."

One thing that's still the same: Voss' dog Cody, a Labrador-setter mix cared for by daughter Kristie, a 21-year-old student at the University of Texas in Austin.

"She said that he's as playful as normal, so I don't think he misses me a lot," Voss said. "But I hope he'll appreciate me when I come back because I do play with him a little more, and I take him for walks."

Helms, meanwhile, is homeless.

Single and with no children, the 43-year-old cut almost all of her earthly bonds before setting sail for the station.

Like a soldier preparing for a lengthy tour abroad, the Air Force lieutenant colonel ended her lease at her Houston apartment, cutting off telephone, cable television, Internet and utility services in the process.

She found a new home for her cat, Mango, cancelled her credit cards, moved all her worldly belongings into long-term storage and placed insurance policies and information on investment accounts into a safety deposit box.

"I don't have a place to stay, but you would not believe the number of offers I've had for people putting me up when I first get back to Earth -- just a tremendous outpouring of folks making offers of putting me up in spare bedrooms and such -- so I don't have any worries about that," she said. "I've got all kinds of places I can go for a comfortable return."

One of her first orders of business, consequently, will be finding and setting up a new apartment, a job that her father, Pat -- a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who moved his family from base to base during a lengthy military career -- plans to help out with.

"My Dad in particular is good with starting up a new household and getting things squared away," she said. "And he just can't wait to get his hands on my stuff."

Also on her to-do list: Looking for a replacement for her 10-year-old Acura. After all, Helms hasn't had to spend a nickel since early March, and her bank account since then has swelled with direct deposit paychecks.

"It's definitely a thought. I think I'll have a lot of things I need to look into because starting a household will take some work, but certainly the idea of a new car appeals to me," she said. "And I've got no financial worries on that end."