Kazakhstan greeted the world's most experienced space flier and two rookie crewmates over the weekend when they returned from the International Space Station with a bull's-eye parachute landing.

The three, who landed on Saturday southeast of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan, included Denmark's first astronaut.

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, 57, the former station commander, returned from his fifth spaceflight with a record 879 days in orbit. He broke the record of six-time flier Sergei Krikalev, who has a career total 803 days in space.