The snails went into space, not as an appetizer for astronauts. Their mission was to spend more than a month on the ISS as part of series of experiments on weightlessness.

"Three-and-half hours after the Soyuz lands, I will be able to pick up the snails and observe them" after their sojourn in space, Givi Gorgiladze, the researcher in charge of the experiment, told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The team of astronauts bringing back the snails includes a Russian, Salizhan Sharipov, and an American, Leroy Chiao, who have been in space since October.

The third team member is Robert Vittori, an Italian astronaut at the European Space Agency, who completed a 10-day scientific mission on board the

The Soyuz is expected to land early Monday at 2:08 am Moscow timeSunday) in Kazakhstan, after leaving the ISS at around 1838 GMT, the Russian news agency reported, citing mission control.

A Russian and an American, Sergei Krikalev and John Phillips, have replaced the departing team. The two will spend six months in space.

During their stay they are expected to meet up with the crew of the US space shuttle Discovery, returning to space missions more than two years after the Columbia shuttle disaster in February 2003.

Columbia's seven-member crew perished when the shuttle disintegrated upon re-entry to earth.

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