Three astronauts have successfully landed back on Earth after living in the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit around the Earth for five months. Global celebrity Commander Chris Hatfield (Canada) has returned to Earth after completing Expedition 35 with Tom Marshburn (USA) and Roman Romanenko (Russia). The ISS astronauts took a ride home on a Soyuz-TMA capsule. They left the ISS on early Tuesday morning and had a safe and smooth landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan southeast of Dzhezkazgan at 2:31 GMT. After 146 days onboard, the mission commander and two flight engineers are home.
Three Russian cosmonauts remain at the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov is left in charge of the ISS for now. They will soon be joined by three astronauts who will be assigned to the next mission. Hadfield, Marshburn, and Romanenko blasted off into space on December 19, 2012.
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Commander Hadfield, 53 years old, relinquished his command of the ISS on Sunday. Hadfield is a native of Milton, Ontario. He is the first professional Canadian astronaut to live in the International Space Station. He is also the first Canadian to be in command of this orbiting space laboratory. On Monday, Hadfield expressed his thanks to the Canadian Space Agency for being given the chance to be part of an overwhelming experience.
Space Oddity: First music video to be made in space
Cmdr. Hadfield has become a global celebrity with a huge following on Twitter. During his mission in space he regularly posted photos of the planet from his point of view. He also posted very interesting clips of phenomenon in zero gravity on YouTube. On Sunday, before going back home, he offered a “last glimpse of the world” with his own music video of “Space Oddity” by David Bowie. According to NASA this is the first music video to be made in space. The guitar-playing astronaut’s version is lauded by Bowie’s official Facebook page as “possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”
Live footage
The astronauts were greeted by clear skies as the parachute descended slowly as seen via live footage. NASA TV showed Soyuz craft descend and Russian helicopters hovering on the site. Search and rescue teams quickly recovered the three-man crew who needed assistance because of their bulky spacesuits. Once clear of the narrow Soyuz capsule hatch, the astronauts were placed in reclining chairs to help them adjust to Earth’s gravity once more.
They were covered with thermal blankets. While having tea, officials of the space agency soon joined them and doctors went about seeing to their physical condition. The astronauts were allowed to call family and friends. Commander Hadfield gave a thumbs-up sign to indicate their good condition. The astronauts were allowed to call family and friends. Commander Hadfield gave a thumbs-up sign to indicate their good condition.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada has commended Cmdr. Chris Hadfield for doing a remarkable job of engaging with the public while he was in space. Harper said that the Commander’s use of social media platforms have brought space travel closer to home, not just to Canadians but to the whole world as well.
Photo Credit: Chris Hadfield
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