Despite making
an off-target landing, three of the International Space Station's (ISS) latest
visitors have safely returned to Earth today, making room aboard the orbital
laboratory for NASA's soon-to-launch space shuttle crew.
Expedition
15 cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov as well as Malaysian astronaut,
Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, landed today at about 6:36 a.m. (1036 GMT) inside of a
Soyuz crew capsule. Nine Russian transport helicopters swept in to greet the
spaceflyers shortly after they touched down on the chilly steppes of Kazakhstan.
"All
crew members have been recovered from the crew module and are feeling quite
well," Russian mission managers said following the worrisome descent and
landing.
"I'd
like to stay in space a little bit longer. I like space," said Kotov,
former ISS flight engineer and Soyuz pilot, shortly before undocking from the
space station around 3:14 a.m. EDT (0714 GMT) this morning.
Shukor, an
orthopedic surgeon selected from 11,000 applicants to become Malaysia's first
astronaut, spent 11 days in space and nine aboard the ISS. Kotov and Yurchikhin
each spent about 185 days in space, and recently handed control of the ISS over
to Expedition
16 commander Peggy Whitson—the first female astronaut ever to command a
space station.
Off-target
landing
The Soyuz
crew's descent lasted about an hour following a deorbit burn at 5:37 a.m. EDT
(0937 GMT), which allowed Earth's gravity to take over.
About
halfway through the free-fall to Earth, however, the crew notified ground controllers that the Soyuz had entered into a ballistic descent. The steeper, undesirable
trajectory caused the crew to land about 216 miles (347 kilometers) short of
their intended landing site.
Expedition
6 crew members experienced
a similar problem on May 3, 2003 with their Soyuz descent, but recovery
crews took several hours to locate the capsule and extract the spaceflyers.
Russian mission managers announced in a press conference shortly after landing that they intend to fully investigate the cause of the Expedition 15's dangerous ballistic descent.
Three
musketeers
U.S. spaceflyer Clayton Anderson, the
one remaining member of the Expedition 15 crew, will stay in orbit as part of
the Expedition 16 crew until STS-120 crew member Daniel Tani arrives next week.
In a space-to-ground interview, Anderson told SPACE.com how he will miss
his "brothers" in space and is looking forward to seeing them again
once he lands.
"It's
been a wonderful time for me up here with you guys," Anderson told his
Expedition 15 crewmates Friday. "I will miss you, but I will see you back
on Earth."
"Sooner
or later, everything good has to end," said former ISS commander
Yurchikhin, who frequently referred to the station as his 'home' in space.
"It was a great and very interesting flight."
Shukor performed
physiology and Earth observation experiments, shared traditional Malaysian food
with his ISS crewmates and, as a devout Muslim, observed the
holy month of Ramadan while in orbit. He also expressed his sadness at
ending an 11-day mission in space.
"I
feel wonderful," he recently told reporters from the ISS. "I love it
here and I don't really want to go back (to Earth) yet."
Lady
commander
With
today's successful landing, the space station is now clear to receive seven
more visiting astronauts—and a new orbital room—from NASA's
STS-120 mission later this week. Commanded by veteran shuttle flyer Pamela
Melroy, Discovery's crew will deliver the new Harmony connecting node that will
lay the foundation for future international laboratories at the ISS.
"I'm
definitely ready for the busy construction ahead," Whitson told SPACE.com
from the ISS, adding that the station will only get bigger during her
flight. "I'm looking forward to, during our expedition, building up the
inside."
Kotov told
reporters this week that he tried to spend some of his free time just
appreciating the view of the Earth and hopes to leave a healthy space station
behind for the Expedition 16 crew.
"We
got this station from the previous crew in good condition," he said.
"We tried to keep it as such as we pass our home to a new crew."
Space
shuttle Discovery and its seven-person crew are slated to shoot into space from
Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 23 at 11:38 a.m. EDT (1538 GMT) and arrive at
the space station on Oct. 25.
SPACE.com
Staff Writer Tariq
Malik contributed to this report from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
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