OTD In Space – June 11: International Crew Returns To Earth

On June 11, 2015, NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency and Russian Anton Shkaplerov returned to Earth after 199 days on the International Space Station.

The trio made up the space station's Expedition 43 crew. They were supposed to return nearly a month earlier, but were delayed by the crash of an uncrewed Russian cargo ship. During their time aboard the station, Virts, Shkaplerov, and Cristoforetti conducted hundreds of science experiments, oversaw the arrival and departure of cargo vehicles, and assisted with the relocation of the station's supply module, called Leonardo. Virts also conducted three spacewalks to route the cables for a new adapter that would allow future Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft to dock with the laboratory.