3-man crew returns safely to Earth from International Space Station

Published May 14, 2013

Associated Press

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  This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space.AP

MOSCOW –  A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew from the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 a.m. local time Tuesday following a 146-day mission to the International Space Station.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits get out through the narrow exit hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition.  Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign.

A three-man U.S.-Russian crew is staying on the space station and will be joined in two weeks by the next trio of astronauts.

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3-man crew returns safely to Earth from International Space Station

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  May 14, 2013: Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), left, Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn sit in chairs outside the Soyuz Capsule just minutes after they landed in a remote area outside the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan.NASA/AP

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  This image provided by NASA shows astronaut Chris Hadfield recording the first music video from space.AP

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MOSCOW –  A Soyuz space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station landed safely Tuesday on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan at 8:31 a.m. local time Tuesday.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits exit through the narrow hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity after 146 days in space.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition.  Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign. They then made quick phone calls to family members and friends.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said by telephone from the landing site that the three returning astronauts were doing very well.

Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," Hadfield told Mission Control on Monday. "From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks." He was referring to all those in the Canadian Space Agency who helped make his flight possible.

Hadfield bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday -- his own custom version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."  It's believed to be the first music video made in space, according to NASA.

"With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World," Hadfield said via Twitter.

Hadfield sang often in orbit, using a guitar already aboard the complex, and even took part in a live, Canadian coast-to-coast concert in February that included the Barenaked Ladies' Ed Robertson and a youth choir.

The five-minute video posted Sunday drew a salute from Bowie's official Facebook page: "It's possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created."

A three-man U.S.-Russian crew is staying on the space station and will be joined in two weeks by the next trio of astronauts.

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Russian spaceship docks with orbiting International Space Station

Published March 28, 2013

Associated Press

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  The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with a Soyuz TMA-04M spaceship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The Russian rocket is carrying U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba along with Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)AP2012

A Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts has successfully docked with the International Space Station, bringing the size of the crew at the orbiting lab to six.

Chris Cassidy of the United States and Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin traveled six hours in the capsule before linking up with the space station's Russian Rassvet research module. It was the first time a space crew has taken such a direct route.

The incoming crew will spend five months in space before returning to Earth.

Their mission began with a late-night launch from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan.

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NASA briefly loses contact with international space station

NASA lost direct contact with the International Space Station Tuesday due to equipment failure, leaving the orbiting laboratory dependent on Russian ground stations for communications with Earth, space agency officials say.

The communications loss occurred at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT) as flight controllers at NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were sending a software update to the space station.

A main data relay system malfunctioned, and the computer that controls the station's critical functions switched to a backup, NASA officials said in a statement. However, the station was still unable to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay satellite network that serves as the outpost's link to NASA's Mission Control center on the ground. 

All six space station astronauts are in good health, and NASA has reestablished a connection with the station, NASA officials said. The space station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and a Canadian astronaut.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00 a.m. EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications," NASA officials explained. "Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford reported that the station’s status was fine and that the crew was doing well."

The International Space Station is a $100 billion laboratory in space that is about the size of a football field. It has the living space equivalent of a five-bedroom home and was built by five difference space agencies representing the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan.

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