ESA astronaut André Kuipers is helped out of the Soyuz capsule that brought the Expedition 30/31 crewmembers back to Earth after six months on the International Space Station.
He landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 08:14 GMT Sunday 1 July 2012 after 193 days in space. André conducted many scientific experiments during his six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station.
In addition to his scientific workload, André carried out maintenance and operational tasks. Highlights included receiving ESA’s Automated Transfer VehicleEdoardo Amaldicargo ferry and docking the first commercial spacecraft, Dragon.