<p>Support workers help astronauts out of a Russian Soyuz capsule shortly after landing in a remote part of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, local time. The capsule carried NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa back to Earth after the three men had spent more than five months aboard the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a>.</p><p>The landing marks the first time astronauts have returned to Earth from the space station since <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/07/110707-space-shuttle-launch-final-mission/">NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in July</a>.</p>
Astronaut Homecoming
Support workers help astronauts out of a Russian Soyuz capsule shortly after landing in a remote part of Kazakhstan on Tuesday, local time. The capsule carried NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa back to Earth after the three men had spent more than five months aboard the International Space Station.
The landing marks the first time astronauts have returned to Earth from the space station since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet in July.
Space Pictures This Week: Green Flash, Saturn Storm, More
An astronaut homecoming, a star called Jabbah, and a rare double flash over the sun feature among the week's best space pictures.
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