British astronaut Tim Peake has safely returned to Earth after a six-month spectacular stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) which included a televised spacewalk. He described the 'bumpy' descent and final landing back on earth as: "The best ride I've been on ever, its wonderful to be back on earth breathing fresh air."
The astronaut craved pizza and beer, as he was presented 'with bread and salt' a traditional welcome by his hosts. He's now boarded a NASA plane for Norway and then onwards for further debriefing. Major Tim Peake completed the very first spacewalk by a British astronaut, and to the delight of millions tuned into his daily live TV broadcasts, even ran the equivalent of the London Marathon strapped down to a treadmill to stop him floating away.
He also completed a number of complex scientific experiments set up by Cambridgeshire schoolchildren, using the small Raspberry computer, to beam back pictures - using computer code the children had created - the device directed through one of the ISS portholes, the mini £30 computer no larger than a pack of cards, set into a case designed by the school project team and approved by the Space Agency.
In all Tim Peake completed some 2,976 Earth orbits of Earth, covering 125million km.
The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying Major Peake (UK), Tim Kopra (USA) and Yuri Malenchenko (Russia) 'bumped' down in Kazakhstan at 10:15 BST on Saturday.
The final retro rockets to cushion the last moment of the descent, setting the surrounding scrubland alight, so the capsules internal air conditioning had to be turned off. This adding almost unbearable heat discomfort to the space suit clad passengers.
But any discomfort was soon brushed aside, as the spacemen were carefully seated into chairs on the Earth surface as medical staff and scientists started a series of rapid examinations and tests to ensure they were all healthy.. WELCOME HOME!
JULIAN BRAY +44(0)1733 345581 Aviation Expert, Journalist & Broadcaster, Aviation Security & Airline Operations Expert, Travel / Maritime & Cruise Industry, NUJ, EQUITY, LIVE ISDN LINK, Broadcast ISDN COOBE ++44 (0)1733 345020 e&oe Old faithful NOKIA: 07944 217476 www.aviationcomment.com
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