[ad_1]
A crew from the International Space Station has safely landed in Kazakhstan after more than 200 days in space.
The Soyuz capsule carrying NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir and the Russian space agency Roscosmos ’Oleg Skripochka landed on Friday near the city of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 11.16 am (0516 GMT).
Its Soyuz landing pod landed under an orange and white striped parachute about 93 miles southeast of Dzhezkazgan in central Kazakhstan.
Russian authorities said they took strict measures to protect the crew amid the pandemic.
Recovery team and medical personnel assigned to help the crew exit the capsule and for post-flight controls had been under close medical observation for nearly a month, including testing for the coronavirus.
The space crew smiled as they spoke to medical experts in masks. After a quick checkup, the crew will be flown by helicopter to Baikonur, from where they will take Skripochka to Moscow, said Vyacheslav Rogozhnikov, a Russian medical official who oversaw the return of the crew.
Morgan and Meir will have to be driven from Baikonur to Kyzyl-Orda, 190 miles away, to board a flight to the US. USA, a strenuous journey that Kazakhstan’s quarantine measures made necessary.
Safe and sound home. 🌍
Today’s landing concludes a 205-day mission for both of them. @Astro_Jessica and Oleg Skripochka and a 272 day mission to @AstroDrewMorgan. Welcome home!
Watch live as space travelers are helped out of their vehicle: https://t.co/0A4ev0XgBq pic.twitter.com/4ZkpnJ8OhE
– NASA (@NASA) April 17, 2020
On Thursday, the Russian government headquarters of the coronavirus reported the first contagion in Star City, which serves as the main hub for pre-flight training for international, American and Russian crew members of the International Space Station.
Star City also has residential rooms for cosmonauts and support staff.
Roscosmos director Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday that the Russian space corporation had 30 cases of coronavirus.
The crew returned to Earth exactly 50 years after Apollo 13 astronauts splashed into the Pacific after an oxygen tank explosion aborted the landing mission.
Morgan completed a 272-day mission on his first flight into space. He took seven spacewalks, four of which were to improve and extend the life of the station’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which searches for evidence of dark matter in the universe.
Congratulations @Astro_Jessica living 205 days in space and @AstroDrewMorgan living 272 days in space, both on your first mission. https://t.co/mjeqdyafLo pic.twitter.com/QFX5JdbkKk
– Intl. Space station (@Space_Station) April 17, 2020
Meir and Skripochka spent 205 days in space, and Meir conducted the first three spacewalks for women with her teammate Christina Koch, who returned from space in February.
Speaking from the outpost in orbit before returning to Earth, the crew said that returning to a world drastically changed by the pandemic will be a challenge.
Morgan said the crew has tried to stay on top of the news about the coronavirus, but added that it was difficult to understand what was really happening.
“It is quite surreal for us to see how this whole situation unfolds on the planet below,” Meir said.
“We can tell you that Earth still looks as impressive as ever from here, making it hard to believe all the changes that have taken place since we have both been here.”
A new crew consisting of Chris Cassidy of NASA and Russians Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner arrived at the station on April 9.
They said before takeoff that they had been under very strict quarantine for a month before the flight and were feeling fine.
[ad_2]