Brazilian astronaut Marcus Pontes walks out

of the Soyuz capsule.(Xinhua photo)

Once out of the capsule, the astronauts are

covered with blankets and served with hot tea to keep warm.(Xinhua

photo)

MOSCOW, April 9(Xinhua)-- A Russian spaceship carrying the outgoing crew of the International Space Station(ISS) and a Brazilian astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan early Sunday, hours after it undocked with the station.

The Soyuz capsule with Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, U.S. astronaut William McArthur and Brazilian astronaut Marcus Pontes onboard touched down on schedule at 03:47 Moscow time(2347 GMT Saturday) about 50 km northeast of the town of Arkalyk, the Mission Control outside Moscow said.

During radio contact with the Mission Control, the astronauts reported the descent was normal and they were feeling well.

The capsule was discovered by search teams soon after its landing and, once out of the capsule, the astronauts were covered with blankets and served with hot tea to keep warm. They underwent medical checkup at the landing site and are due to be flown to Moscow later in the day.

Tokarev and McArthur had been keeping the ISS ticking over for about six months. Pontes, Brazil's first astronaut who arrived at the station on April 1 along with a new ISS crew, carried a series of scientific experiments during his nine-day stay on the orbiting laboratory.

Tokarev and McArthur were replaced by Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams. Enditem

Editor:

Zhang Lihong