Russian space capsule lands in Kazakhstan
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Xinhua, September 16, 2011
A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts returned to the Earth Friday, the Mission Control Center outside Moscow confirmed.
The three astronauts, two Russians and one American from the International Space Station (ISS), who were flown back by a Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft, were in good condition, search and rescue teams on the ground in Kazakhstan said.
Russian TV images showed the three ISS crew members being taken out of the space capsule and seated in armchairs with blankets to re-adapt to the Earth's gravity.
According to the Cosmonaut Training Center, the astronauts underwent physical examinations immediately after the landing, which included examinations of hearts, lungs and adrenal glands.
Seventeen helicopters and planes had waited for the capsule's landing.
Helicopters will carry the astronauts from the landing site to the Kazakh city of Karaganda, from where the two Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyayev and Andrei Borisenko will fly back to Moscow later Friday, while NASA astronaut Ronald Garan will leave directly for the United States for post-mission rehabilitation, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.
The return of the three crew members was originally scheduled for Sept. 8, but was postponed by a failed launch of the Progress cargo ship on Aug. 24.
The three crew members remaining on board the ISS are scheduled to return in mid-November.
