Posted on 11/21/2011 8:41:03 PM PST by Liberty Valance
MOSCOW A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts returning from the International Space Station touched down safely in the snow-covered steppes of Kazakhstan early Tuesday morning. NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa of Japans JAXA space agency landed at the break of dawn some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of the town of Arkalyk at 8:26 a.m. (0226 GMT) after spending 165 days in space. The landing at steppe was close to its target point. NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said in the NASA television broadcast that the recovery operation was swift despite the freezing weather and strong wind. Video from the site showed the Soyuz capsule, blackened by the intense heat of re-entry, lying on its side as the astronauts were extracted. The three men looked well and smiling, although Furukawa looked visibly exhausted. They were seated in chairs and wrapped in warm blankets to help them get adjusted to gravity after spending four months in space. Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the Russian Mission Control Center, said all three astronauts are in good health. NASAs Dan Burbank and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin remain onboard the International Space Station and are due to return to Earth in March. They arrived at the station on Wednesday. A launch next month will take the station back to its normal six-person crew. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
PERSONAL DATA: Born December 19, 1957 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and grew up in McAllen, Texas. Married to the former Melanie J. London. They have four children and one grandchild. He enjoys family activities, motorcycle riding, and backpacking. Mikes main hobby is serving as Scoutmaster of a Boy Scout Troop. His parents, Merlyn E. Fossum and Patricia A. Fossum, are deceased.
EDUCATION: McAllen High School, McAllen, Texas, 1976. B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University, 1980. M.S., Systems Engineering, Air Force Institute of Technology, 1981. M.S., Physical Science (Space Science), University of Houston-Clear Lake, 1997.
Go Bulldogs!
Just humiliating. American astronauts having to hitch a ride with the Russians. Another example of Obama doing all he can to drag our great nation down.
Change you can believe in:
Instead of returning to earth in a space shuttle, and having the latest technology available to help you acclimate in sunny Florida, astronauts get to crawl out of a capsule and sit in the snow waiting for their ride to get out of the wilderness.
We’re just glad to have Mike and that whole crew back safe on the ground. ;o)
You may recognize the others ...
Yes, but did they intend to land there? Kazakhstan is way out in the sticks. A long drive out.
First Bulldog in Space!
http://mcallenisd.hs.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=&pageid=67748&sessionid=
That’s debatable.
I’d post the Russian photos but they’re still in photoshop. ;o)
You mean, like our so-called "moon landing" this was all faked? I expected as much.
Well yes but, maybe it’s not too late ...
there’s always the French Foreign Legion.
Sure just have to let them in the WTO and capitulate on a whole bunch of other matters.
What is important is whether NASA succeeds in building the self-esteem of Islamic pedophile terrorists. Astronauts are irrelevant to its new mission per Osama Obama.
Russian spacecraft have always made a hard earth landing. The Americans preferred landing at sea.
Well that’s a pretty dim view pr. There’s gotta be a Sunny Side...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjZVaMsGB_M
Buddy Miller - Water when the well is dry
SpaceX ..... Yes!!!
Soyuz ..... Da!!!
NASA/Senate space porkathon ..... umm, no thanks.
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