WEB DESK
US astronaut Christina Koch is set to return to Earth today having shattered the spaceflight record for female astronauts by spending almost a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS). When she returns to Earth, Koch will have spent 328 days on ISS, surpassing the previous record held by fellow American Peggy Whitson.
Ms Koch will come back in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, parachuting down to a landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Her stay is just 12 days short of the all-time US record set by Scott Kelly. Mr Kelly was on the ISS from 2015-2016.
Ms Koch surpassed the 289-day record set by fellow American Ms Whitson on 28 December last year. But her return to Earth, shortly after 09:00 GMT, will set the marker for future space travellers to beat.