Four search planes and 17 helicopters were sent to locate the spacecraft after radio and eye contact was established with it. "The Soyuz made a soft and perfect landing" said the announcer in the control room in the suburbs of Moscow.
The 11th crew of the International Station and the third space tourist, Greg Olsen returned to Earth this morning. They landed in Kazakhstan. The two crew members stayed on the station for about six months, while Olsen was in space for ten days. The Soyuz cabin that brought them to Earth landed in Kazakhstan in the early hours of the morning today (Tuesday).
The price of the ticket was not disclosed but the electronic whispering expert is believed to have paid up to $21 million.
As mentioned, this is the third private citizen to visit the space station after Dennis Tito and Mark Athelworth.
The spacecraft covered the 400 kilometers from the space station to Earth in about three and a half hours and entered the atmosphere at 00:19 GMT (02:19 Israel time).
Four search planes and 17 helicopters were sent to locate the spacecraft after radio and eye contact was established with it. "The Soyuz made a soft and perfect landing" said the announcer in the control room in the suburbs of Moscow. "The team members feel good."
Olsen arrived at the station together with members of the 12th crew, William MacArthur and Volary Tokarev. Olsen, 60, is CEO of New Jersey-based Sensor Limited. The company develops and manufactures particularly sensitive films and cameras, and it also works for NASA, among other things.
The Russian space agency announced that Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto is in line to become the fourth space tourist.
The 11th crew and the third space tourist are set to land on Tuesday
9/10/2005
The 11th Space Station crew is nearing the end of its six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Commander Sergey Kryklev (who, by the way, broke the record for staying in space) and flight engineer John Phillips will return to Earth on Monday aboard the Soyuz TMA spacecraft that brought them up.
Naz arrived at the station the 12th crew members on October 3rd, Criclive and Phillips began to overlap and give explanations about the operation of the station and the scientific activities.
The two new crew members - Commander Bill MacArthur and Flight Engineer Larry Tokarev will celebrate 5 years of continuous human presence on the station next month. They will remain in orbit until April.
Space tourist Greg Olson, who arrived with the 12th crew, performed private experiments during his eight days on the station and will return to Earth with the 11th crew.
Detachment from the station is expected to be on Monday, 23:43 Israel time (East Coast time plus 6) and landing is expected at 03:09 Israel time on Tuesday morning.
