The Earth welcomes its heroes – Soyuz TMA-08M landing tour

One more expedition to the International Space Station has finished its work onboard. All mission tasks are completed. But there is one more and the most complicated flight stage remaining – return to the Earth. Knowledge and experience of the crew together with precise calculations of the Mission Control Center and warm welcoming in the steppe of Kazakhstan – these are main components of the siccessfull landing of Soyuz descent module.

And once again our company with a group of space fans visited a place of ISS crew landing. This time we were the first to welcome expedition ISS 35/36 of Pavel Vinogradov (Roscosmos), Alexander Misurkin (Roscosmos) and Chris Cassidy (NASA). At 6:58 Moscow time on September descent capsule of Soyuz TMA-08M transport manned spacecraft safely landed 140 kilometers south-west of Dzheskazgan city.

Both prospects of many hours long journey through the steppe and chilling weather for casts had no chance to stop our space enthusiasts. And they were really awarded for their courage: fair sunny weather at the landing site, deployment of the parachute almost above our heads, arrival to the actual landing point together with first search and rescue vehicles and opportunity to witness the entire rescue operation – all this was a great award.

The notable thing is that some of our group participants were at Baikonur spaceport saying good bye exactly to this crew. And now they had a chance to meet space heroes on the Earth. Extreme adrenaline rush, overflowing emotions and unforgettable memories were guaranteed. And even accumulated fatigue on the way back could not engloom all the sensations after this trip.

After return from the steppe our guests had one more exciting journey – a city tour through the Karaganda with watching all the sightseeing and visiting all the interesting historical places of the city.