NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa of Japan's JAXA space agency looked well as they were extracted from the Soyuz capsule, which was blackened by the intense heat of re-entry.
The men were seated in chairs and wrapped in warm blankets to help them get adjusted to gravity after spending 165 days in space.
Three other astronauts remain onboard the International Space Station and are due to return to Earth in March.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
