Three astronauts are heading back from space, with a smaller welcoming crew to greet them

On Thursday afternoon, three astronauts on board the International Space Station will load into a Russian Soyuz capsule and embark on the more than three-hour journey back home to Earth — just a week after another crew of three joined them on the ISS. The trio is set to land in the Kazakhstan desert after 1AM ET on Friday, April 17th, where a smaller-than-usual welcoming committee will be on hand to greet them.

The returning astronauts include NASA’s Jessica Meir and Andrew Morgan as well as Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka. Morgan has been on the ISS for up to 272 days, while Meir and Skripochka have been on board for 205. Meir made history last year when she performed the first all-female spacewalk with her friend and fellow astronaut...

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