A Fiery Soyuz Re-Entry

After spending 166 days aboard the ISS, astronauts from Expedition 36 returned to Earth their Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft near the central Kazakhstani town of Zhezkazgan. During their journey members of the mission orbited the Earth some 2,656 times, a trip that spanned 70 million miles.

According to NASA, the uncharacteristically explosive landing captured in the image above was likely the result of a retro-rocker firing to aid in the craft descent.

Image Courtesy of NASA/Bill Ingalls