This story was updated at 12:32 a.m. EDT.
The first clown in space landed safely on Earth early
Sunday, capping off a mission to spread awareness about water conservation.
Guy Laliberte, a Canadian
billionaire and founder of the circus troupe Cirque du Soleil, touched down
on the steppes of Kazakhstan at 12:32 a.m. EDT (1632 GMT) after an 11-day space
jaunt. He rode in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with two professional
spaceflyers returning from six-month stays aboard the International Space
Station.
The trio closed the hatches between their Soyuz TMA-14 and
the orbiting laboratory at 6:06 p.m. EDT (2206 GMT) and undocked at 9:07 p.m.
EDT (0107 GMT Sunday), after saying farewell to their crewmates still onboard
the station.
"Goodbye station," said
departing Expedition 20 commander Gennady Padalka, a Russian cosmonaut.
Laliberte wore his trademark red clown nose as he hugged the
station residents goodbye.
"I would like to express my gratefulness to all my
crewmates," Padalka said during a change-of-command ceremony before he
left the station. "Without my crewmates I would be nothing as
commander."
Rookie spaceflyer Mike Barratt is also making the trip home.
"For a first flight I'm probably one of the luckiest
astronauts," Barratt said. "My first flight was incredible."
Space clown
Laliberte called his trip the "Poetic Social Mission"
and dedicated himself to advocating for water. The issue is close to his heart
- he founded the non-profit ONE DROP Foundation to combat world poverty through
global access to clean water.
Laliberte's mission culminated
in a performance he hosted Friday night from space, in which artists in 14
cities around the world used acrobatics, dance, song and poetry to celebrate
water. Co-performers included former United States Vice President Al Gore,
actor Matthew McConaughey, singers Peter Gabriel, Shakira and Joss Stone, actress
Salma Hayek, and the band U2.
Cirque du Soleil members performed an acrobatic routine in
Montreal, Canada and Las Vegas, and in South Africa the a cappella choral group
Ladysmith Black Mambazo sang. Rappers performed in Marrakech, Morocco, and in
New York, people in the middle of Times Square appeared to spontaneously join
in a choreographed dance.
"I am an artist, not a scientist and that is the only
way I can make a significant contribution to a mission," Laliberte said
during the event. "I decided to use this privilege to raise awareness for
the water issue."
Laliberte paid more than $35 million to the Russian Federal
Space Agency (through the U.S. firm Space Adventures) for the trip, but said
the experience was worth
every penny.
"What I've been experiencing here has been an amazing
journey," he said. "This was a moment to create awareness toward the
situation of water in the world. I don't have 25 years, the world don't have 25
years to address the situation of water. I think this was a great opportunity
to combine to a personal dream also."
Space veterans
Padalka and Barrat are completing a long-duration tour of
duty on the orbiting laboratory, where Padalka served as commander of the
Expedition 20 mission. On Friday he handed control of the station over to
European Space Agency astronaut Frank
De Winne of Belgium, who became the first European station commander.
"Our mission was very, very long and very productive,
and I would say very eventful," Padalka said Tuesday via radio link from
the station. "Right now we are ready to go home, and I hope that the space
station will be left in a great position for the next commander and the next
crew."
Barratt, a first-time spaceflyer, was an Expedition 20
flight engineer. Waiting for him at home are his wife and five children.
"I have a big family and that's the strongest magnet on
the planet," Barratt said Monday. "I need to get home to them. But at
the same time I'm going to be truly sad to leave this place. This crew up here
has become a second family."
Barratt won't have much time to rest once he gets home.
While in space, he was assigned to fly on the last
scheduled space shuttle mission, the STS-133 flight of Discovery slated for
September 2010. He plans to begin training for that mission soon after
returning to Earth.
"It's been a long time since I've trained on shuttle so
as soon as I land, I'm going to hit the books," Barratt said.
Padalka and Barratt were part of the space station's
first-ever six-person crew, doubled from the previous teams of three.
"The main goal of our mission was six-person
crew," Padalka said. The expanded population helps keep the station
running smoothly and allows astronauts to take on more science research work.
SPACE.com is providing full coverage Laliberte's fight
and the Expedition 20 landing with Staff Writer Clara Moskowitz in New York. Click here for mission updates and live
mission coverage.
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