British astronaut Tim Peake has returned to Earth in dramatic style after ending the six-month International Space Station (ISS) mission that earned him an honour from the Queen for "extraordinary service beyond our planet".
His Soyuz space capsule parachuted down to a remote spot in the vast scrubland steppe of Kazakhstan, landing at 10.15am UK time.
READ MORE: UK astronaut Tim Peake leaves ISS for journey back to Earth
First reports said the craft had landed on its side, having been caught by the wind. This is not unusual, according to mission controllers.
Travelling with Major Peake were crewmates American Nasa astronaut Colonel Tim Kopra and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko
A rescue and recovery team raced to the landing site almost 300 miles south west of the major city of Karaganda.
READ MORE: UK astronaut Tim Peake leaves ISS for journey back to Earth
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here