Astronaut Jeff Williams. The station commander has completed 534 days in orbit. (Photo: NASA)

A US astronaut has returned to earth following a 172-day mission aboard the International Space Station.

Jeff Williams has now completed a total of 534 days in orbit, more time than any other astronaut in US history.

The 58-year-old and two Russian cosmonauts parachuted and landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan at dawn, a NASA TV broadcast showed .

The capsule descended southeast of Zhezkazgan, disappearing into a layer of haze as it neared the ground.

It was several minutes until NASA could confirm the landing at 7.13am local time on Wednesday (1:13am GMT).

Station commander Williams and flight engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Oleg Skripochka pulled away from the ISS at 10:51pm GMT as the ships sailed 258 miles over eastern Mongolia.

Earlier on Tuesday evening, Williams tweeted a stunning picture of sunlight glinting off the planet with the caption: "I will certainly miss this view!

The mission comes the same day a US space probe was cleared for launch on Thursday to collect and return samples from an asteroid in hopes of learning more about the origins of life on Earth and perhaps elsewhere in the solar system, NASA said.

Williams' time spent in orbit ranks his 14th in the world.

The Russians remain champions of long-duration spaceflight, with cosmonaut Gennady Padalka currently the world record-holder with 878 days in space over five missions.

US astronaut Jeff Williams touches down in Kazakhstan (NASA/@IngallsImages)

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By Natalie Evans

Source: mirror.co.uk