Latest news with #Ovchinin
The Herald Scotland
21-04-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
Astronaut lands at Scottish airport hours after return to Earth
Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan was a trouble-free descent. The three men returned after spending 220 days in space and orbiting the Earth 3,520 times, NASA said in a statement. READ MORE: Fast-growing airline provides lift as it lands at Scottish airport Space travel should not be just for the super-wealthy Scotland's space sector gets into position The agency noted that, coincidentally, Mr Pettit celebrated his 70th birthday on Sunday. Nasa said it followed its routine postlanding medical checks, before the crew returned to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit then boarded a NASA plane bound for Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, while Roscosmos said Ovchinin and Vagner departed for a training base in Star City, Russia. Flight tracking data showed that the plane carrying Mr Pettit - NASA5 - landed at Glasgow Prestwick Airport at around 4:15pm on Sunday after a seven-hour 50 minute flight from Karaganda, Kazakhstan. NASA5 - N95NA - AD337B NASA Gulfstream V en route to Prestwick from Karaganda, Kazakhstan. — Pierre Davide Borrelli (@PierreDavideB) April 20, 2025 The plane - a Gulfstream V jet - then departed Prestwick at around 6:35pm on Sunday bound for Houston, where it landed at around 10pm local time after a nine-hour 20 minute flight. NASA5 is used for both space missions and Earth science research, often in remote locations. The aircraft is a long-range business jet that supports various NASA programmes, including the International Space Station (ISS) Program and the NASA Earth Sciences Division (ESD). In 2018, NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Mark Vande Hei also touched down at Prestwick from Kazakhstan en route to Houston. The pair had spent After 168 days aboard the International Space Station and before returning to Earth alongside Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. Since NASA ended its space shuttle program in 2011, American astronauts have been hitching a ride with Russian cosmonauts to get to the International Space Station and back again. The space station has been continuously occupied since November 2000. An international crew of seven people live and work while traveling at a speed of five miles per second, orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes. Sometimes more are aboard the station during a crew handover.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Soyuz capsule returns to Earth, bringing home 2 Russians, 1 American
The Brief Soyuz capsule lands safely in Kazakhstan, returning two Russians and one American from ISS. Crew spent 220 days in space, completing 3,520 Earth orbits; Pettit turned 70 on landing day. Postlanding checks underway; astronauts head to Houston and Star City for recovery. MOSCOW - A Soyuz capsule that carried two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Sunday in Kazakhstan, ending their seven-month research assignment. According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit of U.S. space agency NASA landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing was a trouble-free descent. The trio returned after spending 220 days in space and orbiting the Earth 3,520 times, NASA said in a statement. The agency noted that, coincidentally, Pettit celebrated his 70th birthday on Sunday. NASA said it was following its routine postlanding medical checks, and that the crew will return to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will then board a NASA plane bound for the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Roscosmos said Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia. On Friday, Ovchinin handed over command of the ISS to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi in a change of command ceremony. The Source The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in this story comes primarily from official statements by the Russian space agency Roscosmos and the U.S. space agency NASA. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times
20-04-2025
- Science
- Los Angeles Times
A Soyuz capsule with U.S. astronaut, two Russian cosmonauts returns to Earth from the International Space Station
MOSCOW — A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russians and one American from the International Space Station landed Sunday in Kazakhstan, ending their seven-month research assignment. According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the capsule carrying cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and astronaut Don Pettit landed on the Kazakh steppe near the city of Zhezkazgan at 6:20 a.m. local time. Roscosmos said the parachute-assisted landing was a trouble-free descent. The trio returned after spending 220 days in space and orbiting the Earth 3,520 times, NASA said in a statement. Pettit returned to Earth on his 70th birthday, the agency noted. NASA said that it was following its routine post-landing medical checks and that the crew will return to the recovery staging area in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Pettit will then board a NASA plane bound for the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, while Roscosmos said Ovchinin and Vagner will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia. On Friday, Ovchinin handed over command of the ISS to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi in a change-of-command ceremony.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Oldest astronaut lands back on Earth on his 70th birthday
Nasa's oldest serving astronaut turned 70 as he hurtled back to Earth after a seven-month mission in space. Don Pettit landed in Kazakhstan in the early hours of his milestone birthday, marking the end of his sixties and his mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A Soyuz capsule carrying Mr Pettit, who is American, and two Russian cosmonauts landed on Sunday morning, hours after undocking from the ISS. 'Today at 0420 Moscow time (0120 GMT), the Soyuz MS-26 landing craft with Alexei Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Donald (Don) Pettit aboard landed near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan,' Russia's Roscosmos space agency said. Space remains a rare avenue of cooperation between Russia and the US, whose relationship broke down after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Mr Pettit and his crew mates, Mr Ovchinin and Mr Vagner, spent 220 days in space, orbiting the Earth 3,520 times and completing a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. It was Mr Pettit's fourth space flight, with the astronaut now having logged more than 18 months in orbit throughout his 29-year career. Despite turning 70 as the mission ended, Mr Pettit is not the oldest person to fly in orbit. In 1998, the late John Glenn flew on a Nasa mission aged 77. Images of the landing released by Nasa showed the small capsule parachuting down to Earth with the sunrise as a backdrop. The trio landed in a remote area in Kazakhstan at 6:20am local time, after undocking from the space station just over three hours earlier. One picture showed a frail-looking Mr Pettit giving a thumbs up as he was carried to a medical tent in his white space suit after landing back on Earth. Nasa said Mr Pettit was 'doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth'. He is expected to travel to the Kazakh city of Karaganda and spend some time readjusting to gravity before boarding a Nasa plane to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Texas. Meanwhile, Mr Ovchinin and Mr Vagner will go to Russia's space training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow. Mr Pettit spent his time on the ISS researching water sanitisation technology, 3D printing capabilities, plant growth in various conditions and fire behaviour in microgravity, Nasa said. His time on the ISS largely overlapped with US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who were 'stranded' in space for nine months after the Boeing spacecraft they were testing suffered technical issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth. The astronauts boarded a Boeing Starliner in June last year for what was meant to be an eight-day mission to the space station, but their return date was repeatedly pushed back after the shuttle's thrusters encountered problems. They splashed down off the Gulf of Florida last month aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule after spending 278 days on the ISS. Their protracted stay became a political flashpoint, with Donald Trump and Elon Musk blaming former president Joe Biden for leaving them up there for political reasons. Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, whose initial eight-day mission was beset with delays, said last month they would return to space on the Boeing aircraft. 'We're going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to fix it, we're going to make it work', Mr Wilmore said. 'This is a tough business,' he added. 'The analogy about it's always a curvy road. It's never straight in this business.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
20-04-2025
- Science
- Telegraph
Oldest astronaut lands back on Earth on his 70th birthday
Nasa's oldest serving astronaut turned 70 as he hurtled back to Earth after a seven-month mission in space. Don Pettit landed in Kazakhstan in the early hours of his milestone birthday, marking the end of his sixties and his mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). A Soyuz capsule carrying Mr Pettit, who is American, and two Russian cosmonauts landed on Sunday morning, hours after undocking from the ISS. 'Today at 0420 Moscow time (0120 GMT), the Soyuz MS-26 landing craft with Alexei Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner and Donald (Don) Pettit aboard landed near the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan,' Russia's Roscosmos space agency said. Space remains a rare avenue of cooperation between Russia and the US, whose relationship broke down after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Mr Pettit and his crew mates, Mr Ovchinin and Mr Vagner, spent 220 days in space, orbiting the Earth 3,520 times and completing a journey of 93.3 million miles over the course of their mission. It was Mr Pettit's fourth space flight, with the astronaut now having logged more than 18 months in orbit throughout his 29-year career. Despite turning 70 as the mission ended, Mr Pettit is not the oldest person to fly in orbit. In 1998, the late John Glenn flew on a Nasa mission aged 77. Images of the landing released by Nasa showed the small capsule parachuting down to Earth with the sunrise as a backdrop. The trio landed in a remote area in Kazakhstan at 6:20am local time, after undocking from the space station just over three hours earlier. One picture showed a frail-looking Mr Pettit giving a thumbs up as he was carried to a medical tent in his white space suit after landing back on Earth. Nasa said Mr Pettit was 'doing well and in the range of what is expected for him following return to Earth'. He is expected to travel to the Kazakh city of Karaganda and spend some time readjusting to gravity before boarding a Nasa plane to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Texas. Meanwhile, Mr Ovchinin and Mr Vagner will go to Russia's space training base in Zvyozdniy Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow. Mr Pettit spent his time on the ISS researching water sanitisation technology, 3D printing capabilities, plant growth in various conditions and fire behaviour in microgravity, Nasa said. His time on the ISS largely overlapped with US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams who were 'stranded' in space for nine months after the Boeing spacecraft they were testing suffered technical issues and was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth. The astronauts boarded a Boeing Starliner in June last year for what was meant to be an eight-day mission to the space station, but their return date was repeatedly pushed back after the shuttle's thrusters encountered problems. They splashed down off the Gulf of Florida last month aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule after spending 278 days on the ISS. Their protracted stay became a political flashpoint, with Donald Trump and Elon Musk blaming former president Joe Biden for leaving them up there for political reasons. Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, whose initial eight-day mission was beset with delays, said last month they would return to space on the Boeing aircraft. 'We're going to rectify all the issues that we encountered. We're going to fix it, we're going to make it work', Mr Wilmore said. 'This is a tough business,' he added. 'The analogy about it's always a curvy road. It's never straight in this business.'
