NASA’s Joseph Acaba, Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin Land Safely In Kazakhstan

A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin landed on the Kazakh steppe at 8:53 local time (0253 GMT) Monday.

U.S. astronaut Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Padalka and Revin rests after landing near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan Monday.

The Expedition 32 crew, which arrived at the International Space Station May 17, returned to Earth after a four-month (123 days) stay there.

During their stay on the ISS, the trio orbited Earth 2,000 times and traveled 52,906,428 miles, according to NASA.

Padalka, who has spent a total of 711 days during four flights and ranks fourth for the most days spent in space, piloted the craft back to Earth.

Nasa Astronaut Acaba

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide remain on the ISS. Williams took command of Expedition 33 after the Soyuz spacecraft separated from the space station.

The trio on the ISS would be joined by NASA's Kevin Ford and Russia's Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin in October.

The U.S. depends on Russia to send its astronauts to the ISS ever since NASA's shuttle program came to an end in July 2011. Russia charges NASA $60 million per astronaut.

NASA ISS EVA: Russians Outfit the ISS

Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka (top), Expedition 32 commander; and Yuri Malenchenko, flight engineer, participate in a session of extravehicular activity (EVA) to continue outfitting the International Space Station. 

During the five-hour, 51-minute spacewalk on August 20, 2012, Padalka and Malenchenko moved the Strela-2 cargo boom from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module to prepare Pirs for its eventual replacement with a new Russian multipurpose laboratory module. 

The two spacewalking cosmonauts also installed micrometeoroid debris shields on the exterior of the Zvezda service module and deployed a small science satellite.

Image Credit: NASA

ISS: Suspected Leaky Valve Delays Russian Cosmonaut EVA

This still image from a NASA TV broadcast shows how Russian cosmonauts will move a crane outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Aug. 20, 2012.

CREDIT: NASA TV

A suspected leaky valve on the International Space Station stalled the start of a spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts for nearly an hour today (Aug. 20), forcing them to wait in bulky spacesuits until it was deemed safe to venture outside.

Veteran cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Yuri Malenchenko were preparing to begin their space station spacewalk when the leak was detected during air pressure tests.

Russian flight controllers at the station's Mission Control Center in Moscow asked the cosmonauts to stay put until the leaky valve could be isolated.

Padalka, the space station's commander, agreed.

"We're in no rush," Padalka radioed Mission Control in Russian, which was translated in a NASA broadcast.

Flight controllers spent almost an hour trying to isolate the leaky valve and monitoring air pressure inside the station's airlock and adjoining modules.

Ultimately, they radioed good news to the spacewalkers — the leak was resolved and it was safe to proceed. It was welcome news for the cosmonauts.

"We're just hanging here and it's kind of boring," Padalka said.

At 11:37 a.m. EDT (1337 GMT) — nearly an hour late — the two cosmonauts finally opened the space station's airlock hatch and prepared to get to work.

Russian Cosmonauts stepped out for six-hour space walk around ISS

Cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko donned their Orlan spacesuits Friday, with the help of Flight Engineer Sergei Revin, before stepping outside for a six-and-a-half hour spacewalk.

The Russians spent the weekend preparing for the stroll; the pair will spend most of their time outside fixing up their cosmic home.

The astronauts climbed into their Orlan spacesuits on Friday to do a fit-check ahead of the jaunt, during which they will shift the Strela-2 hand-operated crane from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module.

Strela-2 had to be moved to prepare Pirs for its replacement: a new laboratory and docking module slated to launch to the station next year, according to NASA.

Strela-1 was already taken off Pirs and stuck on the Poisk Mini-Research Module in February.

Since they're out there anyway, the cosmonauts will also deploy a small satellite and install micrometeoroid debris shields on the Zvezda module.

If they still have time after that, Padalka and Malenchenko could be asked to grab two experiment panels strapped to the outside of the station that are being used to assess how different materials react to the vacuum of space.

ISS Russian Astronauts: Living and Working on the ISS

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko donned their Orlan spacesuits Friday, with help from Flight Engineer Sergei Revin. 

They were performing a fit-check in advance of Monday’s scheduled Russian spacewalk, the first of the mission, which is slated to begin at 10:40 a.m. EDT and last about 6.5 hours.

Padalka and Malenchenko will move the Strela-2 hand-operated crane from the Pirs docking compartment to the Zarya module, preparing Pirs for its replacement with a new laboratory and docking module.

Strela-1 was moved from Pirs to the Poisk Mini-Research Module in February.

The pair also will deploy a small satellite and install debris shields on the Zvezda module.

Flight Engineers Joe Acaba, Suni Williams and Aki Hoshide reviewed procedures for a U.S. spacewalk that Williams and Hoshide will perform on Aug. 30 while Acaba choreographs activities from inside the station.

The pair will replace a faulty Main Bus Switching Unit – a distribution hub for the complex’s power system – on the station’s truss.

They also will replace a camera on a robotic arm extension boom and route cables for the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory replacing Pirs.