Georgia Tech astronaut back on earth after 173 days in space

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough, a Georgia Tech graduate, returned to earth Monday morning.

Kimbrough spent 173 days in space on a mission that began Oct. 19.

According to a report on the Georgia Tech website, a capsule carrying Kimbrough and two Russian cosmonauts landed in Kazakhstan.

Kimbrough served as commander of the International Space Station for the majority of the time in space, joining Tim Kopra as the second Georgia Tech alumnus to hold the position in 2016.

The report says Kimbrough and his crewmates traveled 73.2 million miles while in space. That’s 2,768 orbits of the Earth. Kimbrough conducted four spacewalks totaling more than 26 hours. His last one, on March 30, was the sixth of his career.

This was Kimbrough’s second trip to space — he flew aboard the space shuttle in 2008. Georgia Tech has 14 astronaut graduates, tied for second among public universities.

This story was originally published April 10, 2017 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Georgia Tech astronaut back on earth after 173 days in space."