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Bob Thirsk is back on Earth after spending a record length of time in space for a Canadian astronaut – an experience he describes as an exhausting but exhilarating six months aboard the International Space Station.

The Russian spacecraft carrying Mr. Thirsk and two crewmates landed in Kazakhstan, in central Asia, after deploying parachutes to slow down its descent to a soft landing at 2:17 a.m. ET.

“It was a long journey and the thing is that they are safe on the ground,” Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency, said moments after the hatches on the space capsule were open.

“It is a great thing.”

Mr. Thirsk was the second of the three to be hauled out the top of the spaceship, which landed in a field of knee-high brown grass.

As is customary with Russian space landings, he was placed on a stretcher as a precaution and carried to a nearby all-terrain vehicle. He appeared alert and in good condition.

The only wrinkle with the landing occurred when helicopters that were supposed to carry recovery teams on a one-hour flight to the landing site were grounded because of poor weather.

The recovery crews had to make a several hour drive using large all-terrain vehicles.

Mr. Thirsk's mission marked a pair of firsts: not only was it the longest-ever space stay for a Canadian, but it also marked the first time two Canadians had ever crossed paths in the cosmos.

Mr. Thirsk actually accomplished the latter feat twice during his extended stay in space. He was visited by fellow astronaut Julie Payette in mid-July and, in October, he got another visit from Canada's first space tourist, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.

Mr. MacLean praised Mr. Thirsk's work.

“He works so hard to make sure it gets done properly up there,” he said. “He executed his job with superb precision every single one of his 187 days in the space station.

“I'm just so happy that he's safe on the ground, because it was a very tough mission.”

A native of New Westminster, B.C., Mr. Thirsk celebrated his 56th birthday on the space station on Aug. 17.

“Six months aboard the International Space Station has flown by at orbital speed,” Mr. Thirsk wrote in a letter before returning home.

“If asked to do so, I could remain aboard the Station and continue to perform well. But I feel a fatigue setting in that even weekends and a good night's sleep cannot relieve. It is now time to return home.”

It was probably the last trip into the cosmos for the veteran astronaut, who was one of the original six chosen for Canada's astronaut program in 1983 and who had his first space mission a decade ago. He has said it's time to make room for Canada's newest astronauts.

Mr. Thirsk returned on the same Soyuz spacecraft that blasted him into space in late May.

He also returned with the same two space travellers who went up with him – Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Belgium's Frank De Winne.

The father of three said he was looking forward to seeing his family again.

“I will meet up with my wife and three children in Moscow. I dream of that moment,” Mr. Thirsk wrote.

“My next priority after that emotional reunion will be a long hot shower (although my children have suggested that I should have the shower before they greet me). I'm also looking forward to feeling the warm rays of sunshine on my skin and getting a decent haircut.”

He said re-acclimation to gravity will proceed slowly.

He said he expects that his muscles, heart and sense of balance will recover to their pre-flight conditioning after several weeks. However, he expects it will take many months for his skeleton to regain its lost bone density.

Mr. Thirsk conducted a variety of experiments during his time in space, including on fluids and plants. He also helped expand the space station, and began work to rebuild the broken device that recycles astronauts' urine into drinking water.

“The end of my Station sojourn is bittersweet. I will miss the challenge of living in space. On every day of this expedition, some task has pushed my capabilities to a limit,” Mr. Thirsk wrote.

“I'm proud that I helped establish the International Space Station as a six-person laboratory. The Station is fully operational and has now entered its golden era.”

When Mr. Thirsk arrived at the Station with his colleagues, it marked the first time all five of the international partner agencies — NASA, Russia's Roscosmos, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency — were represented in orbit together.

With the U.S. shuttle fleet set to be grounded soon, NASA and other international partners will have to rely on Russian Soyuz spacecraft alone to ferry their astronauts to the space station and back.