Trio brought back down to Earth – safely

A RUSSIAN Soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts back from the International Space Station touched down safely in the snow-covered steppes of Kazakhstan early yesterday morning. Nasa astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov and Satoshi Furukawa of Japan’s JAXA space agency landed at dawn after 165 days in space.

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 five and a half months in space.

The three were flown to the town of Kustunay for a traditional Kazakh welcome ceremony.