A Russian spacecraft carrying an American, a Russian and a Dutchman from the International Space Station (ISS) landed in Kazakhstan early Friday, Russia's Mission Control Center outside Moscow said.

"Landing went according to plan," Itar-Tass quoted an official from the center.

The Soyuz TMA-3 capsule landed in the area of Kazakhstan's city of Arkalyk at 04:12 Moscow time (0012 GMT), taking back the eighth ISS crew of Russian cosmonaut Alexei Kalery and NASA astronaut Michael Foale, and a short-term Dutch visitor Andre Kuipers, of the European Space Agency.

Kalery and Foale have been in orbit for 195 days since they arrived at the orbiting space hub in late October.

They were replaced by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA astronaut Michael Fincke.

(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2004)