Space capsule with astronauts returns safely to Earth

Three astronauts have landed back on Earth after nearly six months on board the International Space Station. A Russian Soyuz capsule containing Nasa's Randy Bresnik, Russia's Sergey Ryazanskiy and Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency descended under a red-and-white parachute and landed on schedule at 2:37pm local time on the vast steppes outside of a remote town in Kazakhstan. The three were extracted from the capsule within 20 minutes and appeared to be in good condition. The spacecraft brought back Randy Bresnik from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Sergey Ryazanskiy from Russian space agency Roscosmos, and Italy's Paolo Nespoli with the European Space Agency. The capsule landed in the windswept and snow-covered steppe in Kazakhstan's central Karaganda region at 2.37 p.m. (0837 GMT).