Courtesy of NASA TV
Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut Running finally landed safely in a charred Soyuz space capsule after delays on Friday. Dropping through a clear sky under a huge orange-and-white parachute, the Soyuz descent module landed upright and on target near the town of Arkalyk at 1:23 a.m. EDT (11:23 a.m. local time).
NASA TV showed technicians crouching over the hatch helping Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov out in his spacesuit. “I feel fantastic. The landing was soft and smooth,” he said.
NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson followed, smiling as she was carried to an armchair at the landing site. Cosmonaut Mikhail Korniyenko was extracted from the hatch in the top of the cramped capsule.
All three appeared relaxed and in good spirits after they were assisted from the spacecraft, enjoying fresh fruit and chatting with the recovery team.
An attempt to undock Thursday night was hindered by problems with a sensor in the docking mechanism holding the Soyuz to the Poisk docking port.
Friday’s incident was the third docking problem at the station in four months. The automatic system failed on two unmanned Russian Progress supply shuttles, causing one to fly past the station in June.
NASA will be watching developments particularly closely because next year its space shuttle will be taken out of service. The only way NASA astronauts will be able to get American astronauts to and from the space station will be on board Russian Soyuz capsules.
