In Photos: Record-Breaking Astronaut Peggy Whitson Returns to Earth

Thumbs Up!

Bill Ingalls/NASA

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson (left) waves while Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin (center) and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer (right) give two thumbs up during a post-landing photo shoot on the ground in Kazakhstan.

Yurchikhin Gets a Lift

Bill Ingalls/NASA

Expedition 52 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin is carried into a medical tent shortly after landing in Kazakhstan.

Erecting the Soyuz

Bill Ingalls/NASA

With the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft now upright, Russian support personnel worked around the spacecraft shortly after it landed.

The Astronaut Taxi

Bill Ingalls/NASA

A Russian ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) prepares to deliver Expedition 52 crewmembers from the portable medical tent to the helicopters that would bring them to Kazakhstan's Karaganda airport, where the crew attended a welcoming ceremony and boarded flights to continue their journeys home.

The Astronaut Taxi

Bill Ingalls/NASA

A Russian ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle) prepares to deliver Expedition 52 crewmembers from the portable medical tent to the helicopters that would bring them to Kazakhstan's Karaganda airport, where the crew attended a welcoming ceremony and boarded flights to continue their journeys home.

Peggy Gets a Hand

Bill Ingalls/NASA

NASA's all-star astronaut Peggy Whitson gets a hand while getting out of a helicopter at the Karaganda airport in Kazakhstan, where the crew attended a welcoming ceremony.

Traditional Dolls

Bill Ingalls/NASA

Matryoshka Dolls representing Expedition 52 crewmembers Peggy Whitson (left), Fyodor Yurchikhin (center) and Jack Fischer (right) are seen at the Karaganda Airport welcome ceremony in Kazakhstan.

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