ESA astronaut, Thomas Pesquet landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan yesterday (2nd June) with Russian commander Oleg Novitsky in their Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft after six months in space. After a four hour flight from the International Space Station, they touched down.
The return was routine – or as routine as you can get for a ride that requires braking from 28 800 km/h to zero. The heatshield copes with the 1600°C as the spacecraft enters the atmosphere, parachutes and retrorockets provide the final braking, and moulded seats cushion the impact – but it is still a wild ride.
Thomas took part in more than 60 experiments during his Proxima mission, and set a new record for the number of hours spent on science in a week, as part of an Expedition Crew.
Welcome back to Earth Thomas!
Back on Earth!
Source – France 24