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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Soyuz spacecraft lands off-target |
| 2008-04-19 |
| A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has returned to Earth, but came down more than 400km (250 miles) away from its planned touchdown point, say Russian officials. The crew are safe, but were subjected to severe G-forces during re-entry, said a spokesman for Mission Control according to AP news agency. He said they were being examined on site by medical staff. On board are Yi So-yeon, South Korea's first astronaut, Yuri Malenchenko from Russia and American Peggy Whitson. The Russian TMA-11 landing capsule touched down some 420km away from its planned landing point in the Kazakh steppe, and some 20 minutes later than scheduled. The three crew are said to be safe, say space officials. However, they are undergoing medical examinations after being subjected to G-forces up to 10 times those present on Earth, said spokesman Valery Lyndin. Officials said the craft followed a so-called "ballistic re-entry" - a plunge with an uncontrollable, steep trajectory. Ms Yi had spent 11 days conducting tests at the International Space Station. Ms Whitson now holds the record for the cumulative length of time spent in space by an American at 377 days, the US space agency Nasa said earlier. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 that's gotta be a rough acclimation: 377 days in zero gravity to 10g's? Jeebus! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-04-19 16:28 |
| #1 Ballistic re-entry. |
| Posted by: George Smiley 2008-04-19 16:10 |