Soyuz TMA-15M Returns Trio To Earth After Nearly 200 Days On Space Station

[Purveyor]

Source: collectSPACE.com

une 11, 2015 – Three space station crew members have returned home to the Earth after spending nearly 200 days off the planet.

NASA astronaut Terry Virts, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov of Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos, and Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with the European Space Agency (ESA) landed on board Russia's Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft in Kazakhstan on Thursday (June 11).

Descending under a parachute to a thruster-assisted soft touchdown at 9:44 a.m. EDT (1344 GMT; 7:44 p.m. local time), the trio's homecoming occurred about a month later than had been planned as Roscosmos worked to recover from the loss of an unmanned cargo vehicle in late April.

"We got to spend 200 days in space together, a few bonus days, but you just couldn't ask for a better group of people to spend this time in space with," Virts said before he and his crewmates left for Earth.


Read more: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-061115a-soyuz-tma15m-landing.html

[Baclava]

1. I kinda like how the Russians do their landings

http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2015/06/Soyuz_TMA-15M_landing_highlights



humans are weak as newborn kittens after long spaceflight returning to earth

maybe it's time we send out those pioneer settlers to Mars that won't need returning

[longship]

3. Samantha Cristoforetti looks like she's having some fun.

She's all smiles, and yes, likely as weak as a kitten, which is why they carry the returning astronauts. From zero-G to 1G is a bit of a system shock, especially after over six months.

I liked her pics from the ISS, especially when she wore her Star Trek NextGen garb.


She has some charisma. She's a fighter pilot, BTW.



Here's another one. Watch the speed limit, Samantha.


Then there's the unforgettable expedition 42 crew poster, released before launch:

Geek out, everybody.

[Baclava]

4. How could they not have fun? ...there's a one year mission going on now

http://www.nasa.gov/content/one-year-crew

you know they have phone apps to track the ISS and other space objects

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.runar.issdetector&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.heavens_above.viewer

ain't space technology fun - we are living in a golden age and people take it for granted

[840high]

2. Good job. Congrats.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

5. As always...

Live long, and prosper....