Three space station fliers back on Earth after 165 days aloft

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Last Updated Nov 10, 2014 8:32 AM EST

A veteran cosmonaut, a German volcanologist and a Navy test pilot-turned-astronaut whose mastery of social media earned him -- and NASA -- a global following, undocked from the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Sunday, descending through low clouds to a jarring parachute-and-rocket-assisted touchdown on the frigid steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 165-day stay in orbit.

Despite freezing weather that hampered recovery crews earlier in the day, the Soyuz TMA-13M spacecraft, carrying commander Maxim Suraev, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and NASA flight engineer Reid Wiseman, landed on target near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, at 10:58 p.m. EST (GMT-5; 9:38 a.m. Monday local time), three-and-a-half hours after the trio undocked from the orbiting lab complex.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman smiles and chats with support crews while a nurse checks his vital signs after touchdown aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. All three returning station crew members appeared healthy and in good spirits.

NASA TV

Touchdown marked the end of a 5.3-month mission spanning 2,640 orbits covering more than 70 million miles since launch May 28 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southwest Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz descent module tipped over on its side after touchdown. It took recovery crews about half an hour to get Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst out of the charred entry craft, carrying them to recliners set up nearby and covering them in thick blankets to ward off the cold. All three appeared relaxed and in good shape as the smiled and chatted with flight surgeons, technicians and assorted space agency officials.

"Here we have (Russia), Germany and the U.S., we've worked together for half a year," Suraev said. "Everything was fine, everything was in the spirit of cooperation. So I think everybody needs to learn and follow the example of ISS crew members -- don't get insulted, don't try to prove anything to each other, let's try to live together, side by side."

After brief satellite phone calls to friends and family, the station fliers were carried to an inflatable tent for routine medical checks. After that, the crew faced a two-hour flight to nearby Kustanai for a traditional Kazakh welcome-home ceremony.

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Three space station fliers back on Earth after 165 days aloft

Space Station Trio Returns to Earth With Mixed Emotions

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Three spacefliers wrapped up five and a half months of duty on the International Space Station on Sunday and descended to a safe landing on the frozen steppes of Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz capsule.

The Soyuz craft made a parachute landing northeast of the remote town of Arkalyk at 10:58 p.m. ET (9:58 a.m. local time Monday).

"Its been an honor and a privilege to spend 165 days up here. With that said, Im looking forward to heading home," NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman said during a change-of-command ceremony in advance of the trip back to Earth. Joining Wiseman were the outgoing station commander, Russia's Maxim Suraev, and German astronaut Alexander Gerst.

"Its not easy to part from the station," the crew members radioed to Russian flight controllers as the Soyuz slipped away from its berthing port, according to a translator.

Three crew members were left aboard the station: NASA's Barry "Butch" Wilmore, the station's new commander; and Russian cosmonauts Elena Serova and Alexander Samokutyaev. Those three arrived at the station six weeks ago.

Three more spacefliers Russia's Anton Shkaplerov, NASA's Terry Virts and Italys Samantha Cristoforetti are scheduled to be launched to the station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 23.

First published November 9 2014, 9:42 PM

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Space Station Trio Returns to Earth With Mixed Emotions

Russian Soyuz with 3 astronauts from International Space Station lands safely in Kazakhstan

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Published November 10, 2014

Expedition 41 flight engineer Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, left, sitting, Commander Max Suraev of the Russian Federal Space Agency, center, and NASA flight engineer Reid Wiseman, sit in chairs outside the Soyuz TMA-13M capsule just minutes after they landed in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst returned to Earth after more than five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 40 and 41 crews. (AP Photo/NASA)(The Associated Press)

International Space Station (ISS) crew member Maxim Surayev of Russia speaks early Monday, Nov. 10, 2014 after landing by the Soyuz capsule with a parachute in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)(The Associated Press)

International Space Station (ISS) crew member Reid Wiseman of the United States smiles early Monday, Nov. 10, 2014 after landing by the Soyuz capsule with a parachute in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)(The Associated Press)

Search and rescue team members surround the Soyuz TMA-13M capsule carrying the International Space Station (ISS) crew of Alexander Gerst of Germany, Maxim Surayev of Russia and Reid Wiseman of the United States after landing with a parachute in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan early Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, pool)(The Associated Press)

International Space Station (ISS) crew of Alexander Gerst of Germany, left, Maxim Surayev of Russia, center, and Reid Wiseman of the United States, right, rest after landing by the Soyuz capsule with a parachute in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk in northern Kazakhstan early Monday, Nov. 10, 2014. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)(The Associated Press)

MOSCOW A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts from the International Space Station has landed safely in the frozen Kazakhstan steppe.

The trio of NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Maxim Suraev of Russia landed as scheduled at 9:58 a.m. local time Monday (0358 GMT Monday, 10:58 p.m. EST Sunday). They had spent more than five months in orbit, doing research and helping maintain the space outpost orbiting the Earth.

A key research focus during their mission was human health management for long-duration space travel. NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos are preparing to have two crew members spend one full year aboard the space station beginning in 2015.

NASA's Barry Wilmore and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova remained on the space station.

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Russian Soyuz with 3 astronauts from International Space Station lands safely in Kazakhstan

Space station crewmen return safely to Earth

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A veteran Russian cosmonaut and two International Space Station crewmates, one from the United States and one from Germany, returned safely to Earth on Sunday with a parachute landing of their Soyuz capsule in Kazakhstan, ending 5-1/2 months in orbit.

Maxim Suraev of the Russian space agency, who was commander of the station during the mission, climbed into the Soyuz craft with NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and German flight engineer Alexander Gerst from the European Space Agency and departed the orbital outpost at 7:31 p.m. EST.

About 3-1/2 hours later, the capsule descended through cold, windy and overcast skies to touch down on the frozen steppes northeast of Arkalyk.

Early-morning temperatures in Kazakhstan registered just -5 degrees Celsius, mission commentator Rob Navias said on a live NASA Television broadcast of the landing.

Recovery teams were standing by to help Suraev, Wiseman and Gerst out of their capsule, the same spacecraft they rode to reach the station on May 28.

The crew's last few weeks in orbit were among the busiest of their mission, with the departure of a Dragon cargo capsule sent to the station by private launch company Space Exploration Technologies and the arrival of a Russian freighter.

The Russian cargo ship docked with the station less than a day after an unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket carrying another supply capsule bound for the space station exploded seconds after liftoff from Virginia.

"Its been an honor and a privilege to spend 165 days up here. With that said, Im looking forward to heading home," Wiseman said during a change-of-command ceremony carried live from the space station on NASA Television.

Two other Russian cosmonauts and the newly named station commander, NASA astronaut Barry Butch Wilmore, remained aboard the orbital outpost, a $100-billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles (418 km) above Earth.

They will be joined on Nov. 23 by cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, NASA astronaut Terry Virts and Italys Samantha Cristoforetti, who will fly aboard another Soyuz capsule launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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Space station crewmen return safely to Earth

On a Mission to Mars

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Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NASA is preparing to launch its next-generation, deep-space capsule Orion next month on its first space flight, a mission that a NASA administrator recently called our first step in our journey to Mars.

At a Nov. 6 briefing, Deputy Associate Administrator William Hill and other NASA and industry officials outlined hopes and expectations for a mission on Dec. 4 that will blast an unmanned Orion capsule from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., sending it more than 3,500 miles into space and back for a splashdown off Baja California, Mexico.

The flight, which will involve two Earth orbits and last less than five hours, will give NASA and its Orion business partner, Lockheed Martin, their first space test of the capsule envisioned as a critical part of any NASA trips to the moon, an asteroid, Mars or beyond.

Those missions are not envisioned until the 2020s and 2030s, and even the first manned flight of Orion is not expected before 2021.

For the Dec. 4 test, Orion will be staged on top of the most powerful rocket available in the world today, a three-booster Delta IV Heavy, provided by United Space Alliance. As launched, the capsule will be fully configured to carry four crew members, although it will be unoccupied.

All the tests and research NASA will be conducting on the flight will be with the assumption that there are astronauts on board.

The launch is set for 7:05 a.m., with Dec. 5 and 6 available as backup launch days.

The mission will test Orions capabilities ranging from the 17 separations that will occur as various parts of the rocket and capsule system fall away, to the computers ability to withstand space radiation, to the heat shields and parachutes operations for re-entry and splashdown.

The test flight will cost about $370 million including the rocket, but not including the capsule, which NASA and Lockheed Martin intend to recover and reuse.

Orion will go 3,600 miles into space by comparison, the International Space Station orbits the Earth just 260 miles away so that it can built up to a top speed of 20,000 miles per hour on its return. Thats almost as fast as it would have to go for a journey to the moon.

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On a Mission to Mars

Swiss Space Systems Concludes 1st Phase Drop-Test Flight Campaign in North Bay, Canada

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These first test flights were done with the purpose of testing and validating avionics systems, drone systems, Guidance-Navigation-Control instruments and various sensors.

All system components were inserted into an avionics system container suspended by a local custom-manufactured flight support and release jig structure. The flight support and release jig structure was custom-manufactured by North Bay Machining Centre Inc. and assembled at the Canadore College Aviation Campus by Canadore College faculty in collaboration with the S3 design team. The first phase of a drop-test flight campaign in North Bay included contributions from seven local companies, with all work completed and delivered on-time and on-budget.

The flight support and release jig construction was carried by a helicopter at a maximum altitude of 3,800 m /12,500 ft. to test system control and telemetry in-flight, which was connected and monitored in real-time with the ground station. It was also an opportunity for a delegation of S3 engineers to strengthen their collaboration with the supporting teams of Canadore College, North Bay Jack Garland Airport (YYB), and the City of North Bay, in preparation for the future drop-test flight campaign of a fully functional, but reduced-scale SOAR suborbital shuttle mock-up, scheduled to take place in the spring of 2015 from the same location.

During the week-long flight test campaign, various helicopter flight profiles were successfully performed in order to evaluate the flight systems, which will ultimately be integrated into a reduced scale mock-up of the SOAR suborbital shuttle. The fully-equipped mock-up and flight-tested jig system will be used in the spring of 2015 for captive flights from a helicopter. These tests will be helicopter-carried and eventually drop from an altitude of nearly 5,000 m / 16,500 ft. in order to allow its autonomous flight approach and landing with monitoring and eventual control from the ground, if needed. The results of the preparatory SOAR shuttle drop-test flights conducted this week in Canada are very encouraging, according to Robert Feierbach, Head of S3 Americas.

As a team, we had the opportunity to successfully test our telecommunication and guidance systems, and to collaborate closely with the Canadore College and North Bay Jack Garland Airport (YYB) teams. This bodes well prior to the forthcoming drop-test flights aimed to take place next spring, said Feierbach.

The first phase of test flights completed last week presented a good opportunity for Canadore Colleges Aviation Campus experts and North Bay Jack Garland Airport (YYB) staff to meet the various S3 engineers and operational staff - with whom they had been working remotely over the past few months - to perform a full-scale rehearsal before the forthcoming spring flight tests.

This is a promising spaceflight-related collaboration starting on a solid base, and we already look forward to contributing to the success of the second phase of this drop-test flight campaign, and to S3's SOAR project in general, said George Burton, Canadore Colleges President and CEO. These operational activities will enable Canadore to strengthen our technical and logistical expertise in flight test operations with an international scope, as this one demands.

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says that the city is looking forward to hosting S3 again in the spring after such a successful trial.

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Swiss Space Systems Concludes 1st Phase Drop-Test Flight Campaign in North Bay, Canada

The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 1 World Premiere Kicks Off in LondonSee the Red Carpet Pics!

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Ready your bows and arrows, the Hunger Games: MockingJayPart 1 world tour starts now!

The film's A-list cast is taking to the red carpet in London to kick off the film's world premiere tonight, and the stars are already hitting the bull's-eye in the style department.

Of course the Girl on Fire brought the heat to the red carpetyep, that's you, Jennifer Lawrence! The 24-year-old turned heads in a feminine, white high-low Dior gown with black floral details. But for Lawrence, comfort comes first, and that meant slipping a black tuxedo jacket on after her initial descent onto the red carpet to sign autographs. And hey, that's why Hollywood loves her!

NEWS: Katniss threatens Snow in The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 1 final trailer, "Burn"

Elizabeth Banks strayed from her on-screen Capital style, picking an ultra-ethereal Elie Saab gown with a stunning red-to-gray, watercolor-printed fabric. She may not be the lead in the film, but whew, Banks is hands-down the principal style star of this red carpet. Talk about breathtaking!

The Hunger Games' newcomer Natalie Dormer delivered too, wearing a Nicholas Oakwell with an edgy sheer bodice and cobalt underlay. Noticeably missing thought? Her half-shaved hairstyle. Julianne Moore opted for a chic Balenciaga midi with sheer illusion-paneled sides, followed by fellow red head Jena Malone in a colorful white-and-yellow Emilia Wickstead gown.

And don't forget about The Hunger Games' resident heartthrobs, with a fully bearded Liam Hemsworth leading the hunky pack. Josh Hutchinson and Sam Claflin weren't far behind, with Claflin sporting a red remembrance poppy on his maroon suit ahead of the U.K.'s Remembrance Day (and the U.S.' Veterans Day) tomorrow. Also sporting the sweet tokens were Dormer and Malone.

So what are you waiting for? Check out the red-hot arrivals at The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 1 world premiere now!

PHOTOS: The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 1 red carpet arrivals

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The Hunger Games: MockingjayPart 1 World Premiere Kicks Off in LondonSee the Red Carpet Pics!