March 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts landed in central Kazakhstan on Wednesday after leaving the International Space Station aboard the same capsule despite heightened antagonism between Moscow and Washington over the conflict in Ukraine.

The flight -- carrying NASA's Mark Vande Hei and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov -- was being closely watched to determine whether escalating strife had spilled over into longtime cooperation in space between the two former Cold War adversaries. (Reporting by Reuters)