The three-person crew of Soyuz TMA-20 – Dmitri Kondratyev, Catherine Coleman and Paolo Nespoli – represented the ISS partner organizations of Roscosmos, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

On May 24, 2011, after spending 159 days in space, the Soyuz TMA-20 descent module landed safely in Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, carrying Kondratyev, Coleman and Nespoli.

[3] European astronaut Paolo Nespoli was believed to have been the tallest crew member to date ever to fly aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, with a height of 188 centimeters (6 ft 2in).

[8] Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobyov also told Interfax that the December launch date would not be affected, because a reserve spacecraft would be available at Baikonur for the mission, if required.

[10] Soyuz TMA-20 blasted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome's Site 1 at 19:09 GMT (22:09:25 Moscow Time) on December 15, 2010, and successfully reached orbit ten minutes later.

[13] – NASA MCC Commentator Rob NaviasAfter spending 157 days docked to the ISS, the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft, with Russian cosmonaut Dmitri Kondratyev at the controls, undocked from the Rassvet module at 21:35 UTC on May 23, 2011.

Once Nespoli was strapped into the seat to the left of Kondratyev's, the descent-habitation module hatch was sealed, and the Soyuz spacecraft performed a separation burn at 22:15 UTC to increase its distance from the ISS.

In stark contrast to the frigid cold temperatures prevailed on the previous Soyuz TMA-01M landing day, the weather this time was sunny and warm.

Soyuz TMA-20's large parachute and smaller drogue chute inflated as planned, and the spacecraft descended towards its landing zone near Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

Kondratyev and Coleman appeared to be in good shape, smiling and chatting with support personnel and sharing a satellite phone to call family members back home.

However, at a press conference held after the landing, Vyacheslav Rogozhkin, the deputy head of Federal Medical and Biological Agency, said that Naspoli was suffering from a minor health issue with his vestibular system.