RUSSIAN Soyuz capsule carrying three returning astronauts from the International Space Station touched down safely yesterday in the central steppes of Kazakhstan — but not without rattling nerves after a breakdown in communications.

TWO US astronauts stepped out on the last spacewalk of the shuttle era yesterday at the International Space Station, where Atlantis is docked on the final mission of the 30-year US programme.

A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a two-day journey to the International Space Station.