14 DAY TRIAL // Three astronauts that were a part of Expedition 27 aboard the International Space Station (ISS) returned to Earth yesterday, May 23, aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft. The trio spent more than five months in space, conducting experiments and helping maintain the station.
According to the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos), the three landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 10:37 pm EDT (0227 Tuesday GMT), and were unharmed. Emergency responders got to them in record time.
Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev (RosCosmos) commanded the capsule on its way down. He was also the Commander of Expedition 27 aboard the ISS. Accompanying him was NASA astronaut and ISS flight engineer Catherine Coleman and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, from Italy.
The landing occurred during the afternoon (local time). After some 157 days spent in space, the trio was finally able to smell fresh air for the first time. They all had broad smiles as they existed the Soyuz capsule that brought them safely home.
Unlike other Soyuz landings, where winds start pulling on the capsule's parachutes, and drag it on the side, the TMA-20 spacecraft landed upright as intended, and spared the astronauts a final joyride.
Earlier today, May 24, ISS flight director Dana Weigel said in a statement that “right now, the station crew is on helicopters. Paolo and Cady will get on a NASA plane and head back to Houston, and Dmitry will go back to Star City,” in Russia.
The three astronauts undocked from the station yesterday, May 23, at 5:35 pm EDT (2135 GMT). After they maneuvered their spacecraft a short distance away, they took 15 minutes to photograph the station and the space shuttle Endeavour.
The American-built orbiter is currently carrying out its final mission ever, called STS-134. After it leaves the ISS, on May 29, it is scheduled to return to Earth on June 1. Beyond that, it will be processed, and then sent to California for display in a museum.
Until then, the images that Nespoli obtained of the ISS and Endeavour will take everyone's breath away. They are currently still being processed at NASA, but Weigel said that they are stunning.
“It was fantastic to watch it. It was pretty amazing. Dmitry's piloting skills were spot on. It was like watching something we had done multiple times or had trained on the ground,” she added, quoted by Space.
“From a smoothness of execution, I could not have been happier. I think we're going to get a lot of fantastic images from it,” the official concluded, referring to the photo opportunity the Soyuz capsule took advantage of.