Space station duo home
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2010, Friday
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ASTRONAUTS from the United States and Russia landed safely on Kazakhstan's chilly northern steppes yesterday after spending almost six months on the International Space Station.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-16 capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian Maxim Surayev touched down gently and was then rolled onto its side by brisk winds near the town of Arkalyk.
Russian Mi-8 helicopters, in a circular formation above the landing zone in the minutes ahead of touchdown, immediately reached the capsule with the astronauts strapped inside, NASA public affairs officer Josh Byerly said.
Williams and Surayev were quickly pulled out of the capsule to a nearby medical tent.
Speaking from the landing site, Byerly said the astronauts appeared to be in good shape.
"Both Max and Jeff are doing extremely well - they both gave the ground team here a thumbs up," Byerly said.
Temperatures at the landing site hovered around minus 6 degrees Celsius and the movement of all-terrain vehicles was impeded by tall banks of snow.
Williams and Surayev were to be flown to Moscow later in the day and then taken to the Russian manned-space training center near the capital.
The duo blasted off to the space station on September 30 together with Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who became the seventh paying space tourist to travel to the station. Laliberte returned to Earth 10 days later.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-16 capsule carrying NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian Maxim Surayev touched down gently and was then rolled onto its side by brisk winds near the town of Arkalyk.
Russian Mi-8 helicopters, in a circular formation above the landing zone in the minutes ahead of touchdown, immediately reached the capsule with the astronauts strapped inside, NASA public affairs officer Josh Byerly said.
Williams and Surayev were quickly pulled out of the capsule to a nearby medical tent.
Speaking from the landing site, Byerly said the astronauts appeared to be in good shape.
"Both Max and Jeff are doing extremely well - they both gave the ground team here a thumbs up," Byerly said.
Temperatures at the landing site hovered around minus 6 degrees Celsius and the movement of all-terrain vehicles was impeded by tall banks of snow.
Williams and Surayev were to be flown to Moscow later in the day and then taken to the Russian manned-space training center near the capital.
The duo blasted off to the space station on September 30 together with Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who became the seventh paying space tourist to travel to the station. Laliberte returned to Earth 10 days later.
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