Gallery: Soyuz MS-04 crew back on Earth

Blazing through Earth’s atmosphere and coming to a parachute assisted touchdown in Kazakhstan, three International Space Station crew members returned home in their Soyuz MS-04 capsule. The landing took place at 9:21 p.m. EDT Sept. 2 (7:21 a.m. local time / 01:21 GMT Sept. 3), 2017.

After spending many months orbiting Earth at 28,200 kph, NASA’s Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer, as well as Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin were safely back on Terra firma. Ground teams then extracted and evaluated the crew before flying them to their respective home countries.

NASA photographer Bill Ingalls took the following photos. More can be found here.

NASA, Roscosmos and Russian Search and Rescue teams deploy from the Karaganda Airport to Zhezkazgan in order to prepare for the Soyuz MS-04 landing. Photo and Caption Credit: BIll Ingalls / NASA

Director of the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems (IMBP) Oleg Orlov looks out the window of an AN-26 aircraft as support teams pre-position to Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Photo and Caption Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

NASA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. Photo and Caption Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Search and Rescue teams travel to the landing zone. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

The Soyuz MS-04 capsule descends under its single main parachute. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

The Soyuz's Soft Landing engines fire to cushion the capsule's impact with the ground. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Expedition 52 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, left, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, center, and Flight Engineer Jack Fischer get their first taste of fresh air in months. Whitson was in space for 288 days, while Yurchikhin and Fischer were in orbit for 136 days. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Fyodor Yurchikhin is the first to be helped out of the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft just minutes after he and NASA astronauts Peggy Whitson, and Jack Fischer landed. Photo and Caption Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Jack Fischer was the second to be helped out of the Soyuz after landing. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Peggy Whitson was the final crew member of Soyuz MS-04 to be helped out. All three were placed on lawn chair-like couches for an initial health check before being transported to a nearby medical tent for further evaluation. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

The capsule is turned upright in order to collect items for expedited delivery. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA

The crew is moved into an inflatable medical tent for evaluations before being transported to their respective space agency headquarters. Photo Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA