Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Soyuz TMA-06M Spacecraft: Expedition 34 Crew Safe Landing

The scorched Soyuz TMA-06M spacecraft lies passively on its side on March 16.

It is used and discarded after bringing home Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford of NASA, Soyuz Commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin.

It was described as a rough ride but a safe landing, northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan following a one-day delay due to inclement weather in the area.

The Soyuz initially lands upright because of the 'soft landing' parachutes, before being tilted on its side by the recovery crew for servicing.

The spacecraft touched down to conclude 144 days in space and 142 days for Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin at the International Space Station (ISS).

The three crew members were flown by helicopter to Kustanai, Kazakhstan for medical checks and de-briefing, en route to their homes in Houston and Star City, Russia. 

Photo credit: Sergey Vigovskiy

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