A Russian spacecraft carrying an American, a Russian and a Spaniard from the International Space Station (ISS) landed in Kazakhstan early Tuesday, Russia's Mission Control Center outside Moscow said.

"Landing went according to plan," Itar-Tass quoted an official from the center.

The Soyuz TMA-2 capsule landed in the area of Kazakhstan's city of Arkalyk at 05:40 Moscow time (0240 GMT), taking back the seventh ISS crew of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and American astronaut Edward Lu, and a short-term Spanish visitor Pedro Duque, of the European Space Agency.

Vladimir Popov, head of the aerospace search-and-rescue center, said that unprecedented precautions had been taken in the landing area to prevent a ballistic descent similar to what happened to an identical Russian capsule in May.

He said that extra rescue helicopters and planes had been sent to the landing zone. The astronauts were equipped with mobile phones for reliable contact with rescue teams.

Malenchenko and Lu have been in orbit for 185 days since they arrived at the orbiting space hub in late April, carrying out some 30 scientific experiments and maintenance of the 16-nation space station.

They were replaced by American Michael Foale and Russian Alexander Kaleri. They will stay on board the space station until April 2004.

Pedro Duque, who arrived at the ISS with the eighth crew, will be regarded as national hero when he returns to Spain, for he is the first Spaniard to board the ISS.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2003)