The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft, launched earlier this year in March, has departed the International Space Station with three of the Station’s six crew members – returning them to Earth after a 6-month tour of duty on the international outpost. Â Soyuz MS-08 landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan on Thursday, 4 October at 07:45 EDT (1145 UTC) or 17:45 local time at the landing site.
The departure of three crewmembers from the ISS would normally signal the pending arrival of three new crew; however, this is not the case.  Launching next week, Soyuz MS-10 will only bring up two new crew for the Station as part of Russia’s continued decision to keep their total crew complement at two until their main research module, Nauka, can be launched late next year at the earliest.