The Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft lands with Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Sunday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth late Saturday, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for U.S. space endurance. 
 
 Whitson's 665 days off the planet — 288 days on this mission alone — exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide. 
 
 She checked out of the International Space Station just hours earlier, along with another American and a Russian. Their Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan shortly after sunrise Sunday — Saturday night back in the U.S. 
 
 Whitson was the last one carried from the Soyuz. She immediately received a pair of sunglasses to put on, as she rested in a chair on the barren, wind-swept Kazak steppes. Medical personnel took her pulse, standard practice. She then received a bouquet of flowers with the greeting, "Welcome back, Peggy." 
 
 Besides duration, Whitson set multiple other records while in orbit: world's oldest spacewoman, at age 57, and most experienced female spacewalker, with 10. She also became the first woman to command the space station twice following her launch last November. 
 
 Returning cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin logged even more time in space: 673 days over five missions. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer returned after 136 days aloft. The men flew up in April. 
 
 All three briefly held hands for a photo op, before being carried one by one in their chairs to the medical tent. 
 
 It was an emotional farewell to the space station for Whitson, Yurchikhin and Fischer. Before retreating into their Soyuz, they embraced the three colleagues they were leaving behind at the 250-mile-high complex. Yurchikhin patted the inside of the station before floating into his Soyuz for the final time. 
 
 The station's newest commander, Randy Bresnik, noted the outpost was losing 1,474 days of spaceflight experience with the departure of Whitson, Yurchikhin and Fischer. Four years and two weeks, he pointed out. 
 
 "We are in your debt for the supreme dedication that you guys have to the human mission of exploration," Bresnik told them on the eve of their departure. He offered up special praise for Whitson — "American space ninja" — and wished them all Godspeed. 
 
 Yurchikhin is now No. 7 on the world's all-time endurance list, followed by Whitson at No. 8. The top spot belongs to Russian Gennady Padalka, with 879 days in space over five flights. 
 
 Whitson, a biochemist, set a breakneck pace on all three of her space station expeditions, continually asking for more — and still more — scientific research to do. Scientists on the ground said it often was hard to keep up with her. She even experimented on food up there, trying to add some pizazz to the standard freeze-dried meals. Tortillas transformed into apple pies on her watch. 
 
 Whitson was supposed to fly back in June after a half-year in space. But when an extra seat opened up on this Soyuz, she jumped at the chance to stay in orbit an extra three months. Only one other American — yearlong spaceman Scott Kelly — has spent longer in space on a single mission. 
 
 Except for the past week, Whitson said her mission hurried by. She's hungry for pizza and can't wait to use a regular flush toilet again. She's also eager to reunite with her husband, Clarence Sams, a biochemist who also works at Johnson Space Center in Houston. 
 
 Because of the effects of Hurricane Harvey, NASA could not get its plane from Houston to Kazakhstan in time for the crew's landing. Instead, the European Space Agency offered to transport Whitson and Fischer to Cologne, Germany, where they will meet up with the NASA plane for the final leg of their journey. They should be back in Houston on Sunday night. 
 
 Three men remain at the space station: Bresnik, a Russian and an Italian. They will be joined by two Americans and a Russian following liftoff from Kazakhstan on Sept. 12. 
 
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 NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html ||||| In this image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut Peggy Whitson boards the International Space Station on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. This is the third space station mission for Whitson, who at 56... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut Peggy Whitson boards the International Space Station on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. This is the third space station mission for Whitson, who at 56 is older than each of her crewmates. (NASA via AP) (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut Peggy Whitson boards the International Space Station on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. This is the third space station mission for Whitson, who at 56 is older than each of her crewmates. (NASA via AP) (Associated Press) In this image made from video provided by NASA, astronaut Peggy Whitson boards the International Space Station on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. This is the third space station mission for Whitson, who at 56... (Associated Press) 
 
 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The International Space Station gained three new residents Saturday, including the oldest and most experienced woman to orbit the world. 
 
 A bit of Mars also arrived, courtesy of a Frenchman who brought along a small piece of a Mars meteorite. 
 
 Launched Thursday from Kazakhstan, the Russian Soyuz capsule docked at the 250-mile-high outpost just an hour or two before NASA launched a weather satellite from Florida. The Soyuz delivered NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy. They joined three men already on board, one American and two Russians. 
 
 This is the third space station mission for Whitson, who at 56 is older than each of her crewmates. 
 
 She already holds the record for most time in space for a woman: nearly 400 days during her various missions. By the time she returns next spring, she should break the record for any American, man or woman. 
 
 "We could not be more proud," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told Whitson once she entered the space station. He joined the new crew's family and friends at Russia's Mission Control outside Moscow to welcome the newcomers on board. 
 
 "I'm really happy to be here," Whitson replied. 
 
 A biochemist by training, Whitson will celebrate her 57th birthday at the orbiting lab in February. Until Thursday, no woman older than 55 had flown in space. 
 
 Pesquet, meanwhile, is making his first spaceflight and Novitskiy his second. 
 
 Before rocketing away, Pesquet told reporters he was taking up a piece of a Mars meteorite to illustrate the necessary union between human and robotic explorers. He intends to bring the stone back with him to Earth in six months. It then will launch aboard a Mars rover and return to its home planet. 
 
 "So it's going to be the most experienced space traveler there is in the world," Pesquet said Wednesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 
 
 "The idea is to show that space exploration is just the whole ... we're not competing against robotic exploration, we're all working together. What we do on the (space station) is just one step on that road to exploration." 
 
 Sunday marks the 18th anniversary of the launch of the first space station piece. It's now as big as a football field, with a mass of 1 million pounds and eight miles of electrical wiring. Whitson and company represent its 50th full-time expedition. 
 
 "So we can celebrate the station's birthday today," said Sergei Krikalev, a cosmonaut-turned-space official who spoke from the Russian control center. "Good luck." 
 
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 Online: 
 
 NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
– Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth late Saturday, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for US space endurance. Whitson's 665 days off the planet—288 days on this mission alone—exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide. She checked out of the International Space Station just hours earlier, along with another American and a Russian, reports the AP. Their Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan shortly after sunrise Sunday. The journey back to Earth took three hours and 24 minutes, notes Space.com. Besides duration, Whitson set multiple other records while in orbit: world's oldest spacewoman, at age 57, and most experienced female spacewalker, with 10. She also became the first woman to command the space station twice following her launch last November. Returning cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin logged even more time in space: 673 days over five missions. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer returned after 136 days aloft. The station's newest commander, Randy Bresnik, called Whitson an "American space ninja." Yurchikhin is now No. 7 on the world's all-time endurance list, followed by Whitson at No. 8. Whitson, a biochemist, set a breakneck pace on all three of her space station expeditions, continually asking for more—and still more—scientific research to do. Scientists on the ground said it often was hard to keep up with her. She even experimented on food, trying to add pizazz to standard freeze-dried meals. Except for the past week, Whitson said her mission hurried by. She's hungry for pizza and eager to reunite with her husband, Clarence Sams, a biochemist who works at Johnson Space Center in Houston.