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

Search and rescue teams deployed from the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan to Zhezkazgan to prepare for the arrival of the three crewmembers in the Soyuz MS-04 space capsule.

Oleg Orlov, director of the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, looks out the window of an AN-26 aircraft as support teams pre-position to Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan ahead of the landing.

A bus carrying members of the search and rescue teams arrive in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.

Early in the morning on Saturday, Sept. 2, helicopter search and rescue teams prepared to deploy ahead of the Soyuz MS-04 landing.

Russian search and rescue teams fly an Mi-8 helicopter and search the horizon for the Soyuz MS-04 capsule.

Andrey Shelepin (left), a photographer for the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, and Aleksey Lukiyanov, head of the Search-and-Rescue Department of Rosaviatsiya (Russian Federal Air Transport Agency), look out the window from inside one of the helicopters that watched the Soyuz MS-04 land in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft carrying Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin parachutes down through the atmosphere before coming in for a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft carrying Peggy Whitson, Jack Fischer and Fyodor Yurchikhin parachutes down through the atmosphere before coming in for a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

A clear view of the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft as it descended toward its landing site on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz MS-04 safely touched down after a nearly 3.5-hour trip from the International Space Station. What looks like an explosion beneath the spacecraft is nothing dangerous. The spacecraft’s six soft-landing engines fired just seconds before touchdown to help slow down the fall.

The main parachute that safely delivered the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft to Earth collapses over a cloud of dust that was kicked up by the impact of the spacecraft’s landing.

The main parachute that safely delivered the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft to Earth collapses in a cloud of dust that was kicked up by the impact of the spacecraft’s landing.

As is common with Soyuz landings, the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft tipped onto its side after touching down on Earth. While this may feel a bit awkward for the crew on board, it doesn’t pose any major problems for the search and rescue teams, who came to help the crew out of the spacecraft.

Search and rescue teams arrive at the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft shortly after it landed.

Search and rescue teams work to get the three space travelers out of the Soyuz spacecraft after it landed on its side.

Search and rescue teams work to get the three space travelers out of the Soyuz spacecraft after it landed on its side.

(Left to right) NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronaut Jack Fischer smile for the camera after search and rescue teams opened up their spacecraft.

A member of the search and rescue team leans into the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft to help remove the crew from their seats.

NASA astronaut Jack Fischer is lifted out of the Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is helped out of the Soyuz spacecraft just minutes after the landing.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.