14 DAY TRIAL // The Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft that brought the American space tourist and the 2 Russian cosmonauts back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISA) has had, in spite of the fears caused by its previous 2 similar transports, a near-perfect landing. It touched Earth soil last night at 11:37 pm EDT (or this morning, October 24, at 03:36, judging by GMT) in the frozen steppes of Kazakhstan. The members of the team were prepared for a tough ride anyway, but their hopes for a smooth one came true.
Richard Garriott, the 6th private space visitor and the creator of the successful “Ultima” video game series, has spent a large part of his fortune ($30 million) for a 12-day long holiday in space – out of which 10 days aboard the ISA – during which he performed experiments under his father's supervision, conducted some education activities and painted. His father, Owen Garriott, was a NASA astronaut, chosen for his experience and background in physics, his main field of work.
Sergei Volkov, the commander of Expedition 17, is himself the son of a well-known Russian cosmonaut, Alexander Volkov, who, together with Sergei K. Krikalev, left Earth as a USSR resident and came back as a Russian citizen, since the USSR had split in 1991, during their MIR orbital station mission. The other member of the crew that returned aboard the Soyuz craft was flight engineer Oleg Kononenko.
“The Soyuz operated wonderfully,” stated Garriott upon landing, as shown in a NASA video. “Every operation went off without a hitch.” Regarding the time spent in space, he declared before leaving the International Space Station that, “I would definitely say that this has met, and in many ways, exceeded my expectations.” During the journey home, he shared his thoughts on a future voyage of this type: “There's no question I'm already starting to think about the next trip up.”