[TigerLikesRooster]

The smoldering landing site in Kazakhstan

Ground crew check the area around the Soyuz landing capsule after it landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday April 19, 2008. The Soyuz capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday, several hundred kilometers off-target, Russian space officials said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

A rescue helicopter flies over smoke after the Soyuz capsule landed in northern Kazakhstan saturday April 19, 2008. The Soyuz capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday, several hundred kilometers off-target, Russian space officials said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[jalisco555]

40 years after Apollo and this is the best any nation can do. The US has nothing to brag about in this regard. Two generations squandered by all sides.

[caver]

Wow, I figured these things landed in the ocean? Hitting hard ground probably was a rough landing.

[tet68]

Still haven’t solved that pesky reentry have they.

A capsule with a history of problems regarding reentry and
landing.

A ballistic reentry, I guess not much skimming off the atmosphere eh.

I’d still rather take a chance on landing at the Cape.

[grimalkin]

"You know in Russia, there are certain bad omens about this sort of thing, but thank God that everything worked out successfully," he said. "Of course in the future, we will work somehow to ensure that the number of women will not surpass" the number of men.

Challenged by a reporter, Perminov responded: "This isn't discrimination. I'm just saying that when a majority (of the crew) is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behavior or something else occurs, that's what I'm talking about." He did not elaborate.

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LOL. Soooo... blame the women!

[Calpernia]

Is ballistic re-entry a reference to a missile?

[Bean Counter]

Keep in mind that a Soyez is the prime rescue vehicle for the ISS. There is always one attached to the station and ready to go in case of emergency.

You have to hand it to the Russians though, they have simplicity in spacecraft design down to a fine art.

[BenLurkin]

Ground crew help South Korea's first astronaut Yi So-yeon after landing in northern Kazakhstan Saturday April 19, 2008. The Soyuz capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut landed in northern Kazakhstan Saturday, several hundred kilometers off-target, Russian space officials said. Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe G-forces during the re-entry. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

[BenLurkin]

Space agency officials help American astronaut Peggy Whitson, as she walks out of the plane just after arrival at the Chkalovsky airport near Star City, on Saturday April 19. 2008. A Russian space capsule touched down in Kazakhstan on Saturday after hurtling through Earth's atmosphere in a steeper-than-normal descent, subjecting the three-nation-crew to severe G-forces and landing hundreds of kilometers (miles) off target. It was the second time in a row - and the third since 2003 - that the Soyuz landing went awry, though none are believed to have caused permanent medical problems for the crews. Saturday's mission saw the return to Earth of South Korea's first astronaut, Yi So-yeon. She spent 10 days in space before joining U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko in the 3 1/2-hour, bone-jarring descent from the international space station. (AP Photo / Mikhail Metzel)

[RightWhale]

Malenchenko said the astronauts had been able to climb unaided from the capsule when they made their landing on the snowy Kazakh steppe more than 400 kilometres (248 miles) off target — to the bemusement of a local mayor and residents who drove out to meet them.

“They were very surprised. One of them asked if it was a boat,” said Malenchenko.

“When we said we’d come from space... they didn’t understand,” he said.

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Still a few humans on earth who aren’t quite keeping up with the times