Russian-American fleet on ISS returns safely to Earth

On the morning of March 11, the 38th international flight team worked on the International Space Station (ISS), consisting of two Russian astronauts Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky and a colleague of the US Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). ) Michael Hopkins was safely taken back to Earth by the TMA-10M United spacecraft.

>>>Russian spacecraft to ISS carrying Olympic torch

According to the Russian Flight Management Center, the landing gear of TMA-10M Combined Ship safely returned at 10:24 am (Vietnam time) to a location in the prairie area, 147 km from Dzhezkazgan city of Kazakhstan. To the southeast On ISS, there are still three astronauts Mikhail Tyurin-Russian, American Richard Mastracchio, and Japanese Koichi Wakata.

During 165 days and nights working on ISS, this astronaut's "trio" has completed a huge amount of work such as implementing applied science research programs and conducting experiments and shooting. photos and videos from the ship, performing operations with the "Progress" , ATV-4 transports, bringing the Olympic torch to space and especially astronauts stepping out into space.

Three astronauts Michael Hopkins, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazansky during the Soyuz TMA-10M launch on September 26, 2013.(Photo: RIA Novosti)

Soyuz TMA-10M and crew were taken to space from Russia's Baikonur airport in Kazakhstan on September 26, 2013. Earlier, on March 10, Russia's Flight Management Center announced that Soyuz TMA-10M's return mission might be delayed due to bad weather, but the flight team still returned to Earth in accordance with the plan and strength. The health of all 3 people is good.

It is expected that the next international fleet of two Russian astronauts and one American will be taken to space by Soyuz ТМА-12М on March 26, also from Baikonur.

In a related development, although there are many disagreements over Ukraine's issue, Russia and the US still agree to continue cooperation in aerospace. Earlier, March 10, the leader of Russia's "Information Satellite System" and US International Launch Services (ILS) signed an agreement to study the possibility of bringing two satellites at once. thanks to Proton boosters. The agreement stipulates that one of the satellites will be produced by the Russian side, the remaining foreign satellite may be launched with Russian satellites. Finally, both Russian and US companies will assess the technical feasibility of the project.