Soyuz astronauts come back to earth
- 11 years ago
After almost five months in the stars, three crew members return home from the International Space Station.
The trio are helped from the cramped confines of their Soyuz space capsule shortly after landing Saturday in Kazakhstan.
With the temperatures well below freezing, the astronauts - led by American commander Kevin Ford - are bundled into blankets during a quick checkup.
They spent 144 days onboard the space station, travelling a total of 98 million kilometres.
Meanwhile, their replacements are getting ready to blast off.
In Russia, another tree-man team said goodbye to their families ahead of a planned March 28 launch.
Commander Pavel Vinogradov told reporters the trio were excited, though they have a lot of work ahead of them.
Their trip will mark the 36th mission to the 100 billion dollar International Space Station, which is constantly staffed.
The trio are helped from the cramped confines of their Soyuz space capsule shortly after landing Saturday in Kazakhstan.
With the temperatures well below freezing, the astronauts - led by American commander Kevin Ford - are bundled into blankets during a quick checkup.
They spent 144 days onboard the space station, travelling a total of 98 million kilometres.
Meanwhile, their replacements are getting ready to blast off.
In Russia, another tree-man team said goodbye to their families ahead of a planned March 28 launch.
Commander Pavel Vinogradov told reporters the trio were excited, though they have a lot of work ahead of them.
Their trip will mark the 36th mission to the 100 billion dollar International Space Station, which is constantly staffed.