14 DAY TRIAL // The image above was snapped on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, by emergency rescue crews deployed to an area just southeast of a small town called Dzhezkazgan, on the steppes of Kazakhstan. The photo shows the Russian-built Soyuz TMA-10M space capsule, which a trio of astronauts used to return to Earth earlier that day.
NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy, both of the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), arrived safely back on the planet, after spending 166 days on the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 38 crew. Kotov was the commander of the mission until Sunday, when he handed over his position to Koichi Wakata (JAXA).
The photo was snapped after the three astronauts were removed from the spacecraft and taken to safety. Russian engineers are seen here documenting the cargo that the capsule returned to Earth, including a number of scientific experiments. In addition to ferrying astronauts, the Soyuz vehicles are often used to retrieve temporary experiments from the ISS.
The capsule is not painted in shades of black upon lift-off. The markings you see here are produced by the scorching temperatures the Soyuz has to endure upon reentering Earth's atmosphere. Due to its shape and control mechanisms, it always keeps its underside pointing down upon descent, making for a safe, albeit not that comfortable, landing.