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Space station crew returns to Earth aboard Soyuz BY WILLIAM HARWOOD STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS "SPACE PLACE" & USED WITH PERMISSION Posted: April 8, 2006 Outgoing ISS-12 commander Bill McArthur, flight engineer Valery Tokarev and Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes departed the international space station and safely returned to Earth today aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule. "It was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride," McArthur joked about a half hour after touchdown, referring to a Disney attraction. "You'd love it!" With Tokarev at the controls, the Soyuz TMA-7 descent module touched down on target in Kazakhstan at 7:48 p.m. EDT, three hours and 20 minutes after undocking from the international space station. For McArthur and Tokarev, launched to the station last Sept. 30, landing marked the end of a 190-day mission, the 12th expedition to the international outpost since permanent occupation began in November 2000. Pontes, Brazil's first space flier, was launched to the outpost last week aboard the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft along with the lab's 13th crew, commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA science officer Jeffrey Williams. NASA hopes to launch a third station crew member, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, this July aboard the space shuttle Discovery. A NASA spokeswoman reported Pontes, McArthur and Tokarev were in good shape after re-entry and landing, as Russian and U.S. medical officers and engineers departed a nearby staging area in Arkalyk to assist the astronauts' exit from the cramped descent module. Shots from a NASA videophone showed the recovery team swarming about the spacecraft shortly after touchdown, including a brief shot of McArthur, still in his seat, waiting to exit. A few minutes later, additional videophone shots showed Pontes, McArthur and Tokarev out of the spacecraft, resting comfortably in recliners, smiling and chatting with support crews. All three appeared in good spirits. "It was a heck of a ride," a smiling McArthur said of his first Soyuz landing. After medical checks, the crew was expected to be flown by helicopter to Kustanai near the Russian border and then by airplane to Star City outside Moscow for reunions with friends and family members and to begin the readaptation to Earth's gravity. "I'm really, really looking forward to seeing my family," McArthur, 54, told CBS Radio last week. "Gosh, I've been married for over 30 years and I guess this is has been the longest I've been separated from my wife and, certainly, my two daughters. So I'm looking forward to seeing them again." Asked if he was satisfied with the results of the 12th space station expedition, he said "you want to leave with the sense that you accomplished the goals that were set out and Valery and I are very, very happy." "We think we're leaving the station in a condition in which Pavel and Jeff don't have to make up lost ground," he said. "They'll be able to continue the work of preparing the station for further assembly and conduct a good science program in the meantime."
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Full coverage of the Expedition 13 crew's launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to begin a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
External cameras on the International Space Station captured this incredible footage of the March 29 solar eclipse. The station flew through the eclipse over the Middle East as the moon passed in front of the sun and cast its shadow on the Earth.
A total solar eclipse occurred March 29. This video from Side, Turkey shows the period of totality when the moon slid between the Earth and Sun. The eclipse revealed the Sun's glowing outer halo of million-degree gas, called the solar corona.
In early March, NASA cancelled its Dawn mission built to orbit two of the solar system's largest asteroids using ion engine propulsion. Technical problems and cost overruns were blamed. But in this news conference from March 27, agency officials announce NASA's decision to reverse the cancellation and restart the mission.
Lockheed Martin holds this news conference in Houston on March 24 to announced that it is partnering with the State of Texas to locate the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) program office in Houston, as well as systems engineering, software development and qualification testing, if the corporation wins the NASA contract to build the next generation spacecraft for NASA.
As the Expedition 12 mission aboard the International Space Station winds down, officials managing the flight from Mission Control in Houston hold this retrospective briefing to talk about the highs and lows, the science, the spacewalks and everything in between.
International Space Station officials preview the next Expedition mission to the orbiting outpost, which is scheduled for launch March 29. The preview was given during a briefing March 22 from Johnson Space Center.
VIDEO:
THE SOYUZ CAPSULE UNDOCKS FROM STATION 