Station crew feels great after bull's-eye Soyuz landing

Two Americans and a Russian appeared in excellent condition after being pulled from a Soyuz capsule minutes after it touched down and rolled on its side in Kazakhstan to end a 163-day space voyage.

Cosmonaut and Soyuz commander Fyodor Yurchikhin was the first to exit the capsule into sub-freezing temperatures on a dry, grassy field 50 miles northeast of Arkalyk. He was seated in a reclining chair and swaddled in blankets.

NASA astronaut Shannon Walker was next, followed by Doug Wheelock, the commander of the International Space Station's Expedition 25 crew. All were out within about a half-hour of the 11:46 p.m. EST Thursday touchdown.

Walker was given a bouquet of flowers and could be seen smiling and talking to family on a satellite phone. Wheelock waved, smiled, answered questions and held up a sign saying "Hi Mom!"

"Beautiful," Wheelock said, when asked how the space station looked after undocking.

The trio was carried to a nearby tent for medical evaluations before flying by helicopter to a traditional welcome ceremony.

With the flight's conclusion, Yurchikhin has spent a total of 371 days in space. Wheelock's total is 178 days, including a 2007 shuttle mission. The flight was Walker's first.

Veteran NASA TV commentator Rob Navias described the landing as a bull's-eye and said the recovery operation was one of the quickest he'd ever seen.