This is the first landing since the Columbia disaster * the first official American astronauts on foreign soil * the Soyuz makes hard landings, something Americans are not used to
Avi Blizovsky
Update 4/5 hour 10:05
The Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft landed early in the morning (Sunday) in Kazakhstan with two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on board. The three returned to Earth from the International Space Station after a six-month stay in space. Russian helicopters sent to search for the landing gear, which lands on the ground with the help of a parachute, located it only about two hours after landing. This is due to a deviation of 400 km from the planned landing site.
Preliminary tests conducted on the Americans Kenneth Borsox, Donald Pettit and the Russian Nikolai Budrin revealed that their physical condition is normal. The three crowded into the Soyuz, which measures two square meters. The spacecraft landed in Central Asia after a three and a half hour journey from the space station.
עדכון 04/05/03 07:10
The tiny space vehicle landed in Kazakhstan with 2 American and Russian astronauts who spent about six months on the International Space Station
The Russian "Soyuz" spacecraft landed early in the morning (Sunday) safely in Kazakhstan with two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on board. The three returned to Earth from the International Space Station after a six-month stay in space.
The old Soyuz spacecraft was the only vehicle that could evacuate the astronauts from the space station after the disaster of the American space shuttle Columbia in February of this year, which grounded the entire American shuttle fleet. This is the first time that American astronauts have returned to Israel in a Russian spacecraft.
Kenneth Borsox, Donald Pettit and the Russian Nikolai Bodrin crowded into the Suez, which measures two square meters. The spacecraft landed in Central Asia after a three and a half hour journey from the space station. The Russian helicopters that were sent to look for the spacecraft cabin, which lands on the ground in a parachute cradle, initially had difficulty locating it due to a deviation of 20-25 km from the landing site.
The Soyuz carrying the International Space Station crew left the space station * and is expected to land at five in the morning
02:00 the spacecraft detached from the space station - 4/5/03
Two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut, who had to stay two more months on the International Space Station, returned to Earth tonight.
Officials at the Russian space agency's control center near Mussivka said that the Soyuz compartment carrying Americans Ko Bowersox and Donald Pettit and Russian Nikolai Bodarin had detached from the space station and the three were on their way to Earth.
They disconnected from the station at 02:34 Moscow time (1:34 am Israel time) and are supposed to land about a hundred kilometers north of Arkalik in Kazakhstan at 2:07 GMT or 5:07 Israel time.
In the morning we will continue and update as early as possible
Updated 3/5
Anticipation and tension for the return on Saturday of the sixth crew members of the International Space Station, in the first landing since the Columbia disaster and the first landing of official American astronauts on foreign soil (it should be noted that the only American to take off and land in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft was the first space tourist Denis Tito in 2001, But he did not belong to NASA).
"I'm sure that from now on we will pay more attention to the landing process," said Terry Taddeo, a NASA landing supervisor who will monitor the event from Houston.
When the space shuttle fleet is completely grounded, the two astronauts are supposed to return to Earth on the night between Saturday and Sunday in a Soyuz cabin that is more reminiscent of the landing cabins of the XNUMXs - the Mercury Gemini and Apollo.
Instead of landing in the ocean like in the early days of NASA, the spacecraft will land in Kazakhstan. Instead of gliding to a gentle landing on a runway in Florida surrounded by swamps and alligators, the cell will hit the ground in areas sparsely populated mainly by camels.
Astronauts Kenneth Bowersox and Donald Pettit considered their stay on the station the experience of a lifetime. They stayed at the station for about five months. "We have no unusual anxiety," Pettit told reporters this week. Cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin has already gone through this difficult landing experience twice before.
However, none of those involved avoids the fact that the last time a spacecraft penetrated the atmosphere on its return from orbit, it disintegrated into tens of thousands of pieces and all seven astronauts on board perished.
Mickey Petit, the astronaut's wife, admitted that she is more nervous because of the Columbia disaster.
"We're all a little more aware of the risks now," she said from her home in Houston, before leaving for Moscow with the couple's two-and-a-half-year-old twins. "The Soyuz, that's what I heard, is a good, old and reliable spacecraft, and it also has fewer things that can break down compared to the shuttle."
