Soyuz capsule

The Soyuz TMA-03M capsule suspended from its parachute before landing on Sunday 1 July 2012. Inside are astronauts Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and ESA astronaut André Kuipers.

They landed at 08:14 GMT in the steppes of Kazakhstan after 193 days in space. André conducted many scientific experiments during his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station.

In addition to his scientific workload, André carried out maintenance and operational tasks. Highlights included receiving ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi cargo ferry and docking the first commercial spacecraft, Dragon.