NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson and her crewmates yesterday boarded a Soyuz spacecraft and disembarked from the International Space Station (ISS) to make their journey back to Earth.

Whitson's departure ends her 288 day mission aboard the ISS, a stretch that gives her the record for the most cumulative time spent in space.

Before their departure, command of the ISS was handed over to astronaut Randy Bresnik at a brief ceremony.

"Taking command of the International Space Station I receive the symbolic ISS key on behalf of our crew and declare the following: With the knowledge and skills acting as one team, we will implement the flight program with true commitment, assure operating efficiency and integrity of the service and science equipment safety of crew and station," Bresnik said.

Whitson and her Expedition 52 crewmates Jack Fischer of NASA and Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos are scheduled to land in Kazakhstan today.