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Russian space official pleased with ISS crew's accurate landing

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 October 2003, 06:00 CST

Excerpt from report by Russian Channel One TV on 28 October

[Report from "Novosti" news]

[Presenter] There was an emergency at the International Space Station [ISS] last night. The ISS turned by 25 degrees - one of the astronauts simultaneously pressed two buttons by mistake, which briefly started the engines. The ISS's position was restored quickly. This happened during preparations for the crew's return to earth. The Mission Control Centre says the premature start of the engines did not affect the landing. On the contrary, the small mistake helped the station to turn in the right direction quicker. The landing was successful. Here is a report by Igor Tikhonov.

[Correspondent] Astronauts Yuriy Malenchenko, Edward Lu and Pedro Duque quietly said goodbye to the station. The Soyuz-TMA-2 undocked from the station at 0216 [2317 gmt] and in three-and-a-half hours the descent module with the astronauts touched down successfully south of the Kazakh town of Arkalyk.

[Vladimir Solovyev, Mission Control Centre flight director - captioned] The control system worked normally. The miss was about 3 or 4 km. By our space standards, this is absolutely accurate. They feel satisfactory, as the doctors say. Well, doctors are never happy about astronauts' health.

[Correspondent] The main canopy of the parachute system of the descent module was noticed when it was a few kilometres above the earth. The module was quietly guided to the landing spot. Then the astronauts were approached [by rescue teams]. Immediately after the landing Yuriy Malenchenko called his father [passage omitted] After the previous crew's landing in May, when rescue teams looked for the astronauts for over two hours, it was decided to take extra safety measures and bring in additional forces and equipment. This time 12 rescue helicopters and three aircraft were on duty in the area of landing. Another two helicopters and one aircraft waited for the astronauts in the area of a possible ballistic descent.

Now, after undergoing medical checks, Yuriy Malenchenko, Edward Lu and Pedro Duque will be taken to Zvezdnyy Gorodok, where they will spend several weeks in the rehabilitation centre under medical observation.

[passage omitted]

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