Astronauts make safe return in Soyuz capsule
Source: Agencies |
April 28, 2012, Saturday
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A SOYUZ space capsule carrying two Russians and an American touched down safely yesterday on the sweeping steppes of central Kazakhstan, ending the men's 163-day stay on the International Space Station.
Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA's Daniel Burbank returned to Earth as the Russian-made module landed on schedule at a remote, dusty site north of the town of Arkalyk, then rolled on its side.
NASA television broadcast vivid images of the capsule carried by a parachute swaying slightly as it floated downward in the clear skies while six all-terrain vehicles approached the landing spot. Eight search-and-rescue helicopters circled the landing site to ensure a speedy recovery.
Shkaplerov, in the capsule's central seat, was the first to be hauled out and hoisted into a reclining chair. While medical personnel mopped his brow and checked his vital signs, the astronaut smiled broadly and chatted with his colleagues.
Ivanishin, and then a heartily laughing Burbank, went through the same procedure a few minutes later.
Speaking from the touchdown site, NASA spokesman Rob Navias called it "a bullseye landing."
"The spacecraft landed almost exactly where it was forecast to," he told NASA television.
The retirement of the US shuttle fleet has left Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as the only means to deliver crews to the space outpost.
The Soyuz capsule's voyage from the space station started 3 1/2 hours earlier, when it undocked and began a slow, gentle drift away. About 100 kilometers above the earth, the Soyuz began atmospheric re-entry, turning its heat-resistant shield forward to protect the space travelers from the intense heat generated by friction with the air.
The crew then began sensing gravity for the first time in almost half a year.
A little under 15 minutes ahead of touchdown, with the Soyuz traveling at around 800 kilometers per hour, a series of parachutes deployed.
Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA's Daniel Burbank returned to Earth as the Russian-made module landed on schedule at a remote, dusty site north of the town of Arkalyk, then rolled on its side.
NASA television broadcast vivid images of the capsule carried by a parachute swaying slightly as it floated downward in the clear skies while six all-terrain vehicles approached the landing spot. Eight search-and-rescue helicopters circled the landing site to ensure a speedy recovery.
Shkaplerov, in the capsule's central seat, was the first to be hauled out and hoisted into a reclining chair. While medical personnel mopped his brow and checked his vital signs, the astronaut smiled broadly and chatted with his colleagues.
Ivanishin, and then a heartily laughing Burbank, went through the same procedure a few minutes later.
Speaking from the touchdown site, NASA spokesman Rob Navias called it "a bullseye landing."
"The spacecraft landed almost exactly where it was forecast to," he told NASA television.
The retirement of the US shuttle fleet has left Russia's Soyuz spacecraft as the only means to deliver crews to the space outpost.
The Soyuz capsule's voyage from the space station started 3 1/2 hours earlier, when it undocked and began a slow, gentle drift away. About 100 kilometers above the earth, the Soyuz began atmospheric re-entry, turning its heat-resistant shield forward to protect the space travelers from the intense heat generated by friction with the air.
The crew then began sensing gravity for the first time in almost half a year.
A little under 15 minutes ahead of touchdown, with the Soyuz traveling at around 800 kilometers per hour, a series of parachutes deployed.
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