Sunita Williams Back To Earth

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[color=#000000][font=arial][size=3]after 4 months in space[/size][/font][/color][b]:[/b][color=#000000][font=arial][size=3] A Russian Soyuz capsule landed on the Kazakh steppe on Monday, delivering a trio of astronauts from a four-month stint on the International Space Station.[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=arial][size=3]The Soyuz TMA-05M capsule, carrying Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Sunita Williams, parachuted through dark, cloudy skies and touched down at 7:56 am local time (0156 GMT).[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=arial][size=3]"We have landing!" footage from Russian Mission Control, broadcast by NASA TV and Russian state television, showed. Search-and-recovery helicopters were on their way to the landing site, near the northern Kazakh town of Arkalyk.[/size][/font][/color]

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[color=#000000][font=arial][size=3] Sunita Williams is headed back home[/size][/font][/color][b]:[/b][color=#000000][font=arial][size=3] [/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial][size=3]
Indian-American Sunita Williams and her two co-astronauts Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Aki Hoshide have undocked from the Rassvet module of International Space Station for their journey back to Earth after spending four months in orbit.[/size][/font][/color]
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Earlier, the trio bid farewell to their fellow crew-mates Kevin Ford, Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy, and closed the hatches between the spacecraft before finally undocking at 2226 GMT on Sunday (0356 IST on Monday).[/size][/font][/color]
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The Soyuz carrying the home-bound trio will land near the town of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan on Monday.[/size][/font][/color]
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The return of Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko will wrap up their 127-day stay in space, including 125 days spent aboard the station, since the launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 15.[/size][/font][/color]
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Williams, will have spent a total of 322 days in space during her two long-duration missions.[/size][/font][/color]
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She previously served aboard the station as an Expedition 14/15 flight engineer from December 9, 2006 to June 22, 2007. [/size][/font][/color]
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Williams has a total of 50 hours and 40 minutes of spacewalking time over seven spacewalks, including the three she conducted during Expeditions 32 and 33.[/size][/font][/color]

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[size=3][font="Arial"]Another three astronauts remain on board the International Space Station (ISS) and will return next year.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=3][font="Arial"]Earlier, the trio bid farewell to their fellow astronauts at the ISS, Flight Engineers Kevin Ford, Evgeny Tarelkin and Oleg Novitskiy.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=3][font="Arial"]The trio undocked from the Rassvet module of the ISS on Saturday.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=3][font="Arial"]The return of Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko has wrapped up a 127-day space journey for them, since their launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 15, this year, including 125 days spent aboard the ISS.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color]
[img]http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/nov/19sd2.jpg[/img]

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[size=4][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][font=Arial]Williams, 47, now has spent a total of 322 days in space during her two long-duration missions. She previously served aboard the ISS as an Expedition 14/15 flight engineer from December 9, 2006, to June 22, 2007. [/font][/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][font=Arial]Williams now also holds the record for spacewalking time for female astronauts.[/font][/font][/color][/size]
[color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3][font=Arial][size=2][size=4]Williams has a total of 50 hours and 40 minutes of spacewalking time over seven spacewalks, including the three she conducted during Expeditions 32 and 33.

This was the second trip into space for Hoshide of th[/size]e [size=4]Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who visited the station as an STS-124 mission specialist aboard space shuttle Discovery in 2008.[/size][/size][/font][/size][/font][/color]
[img]http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/nov/19sd3.jpg[/img]

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[size=4][font="Arial"]Russian Soyuz Commander Malenchenko wrapped up his fifth spaceflight for a total of 642 days in space, placing him seventh on the all-time endurance list.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=4][font="Arial"]The undocking signals the end of Expedition 33 and the start of Expedition 34 under the command of Ford, who will remain on the station with Novitskiy and Tarelkin until March. [/font][/size]
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[size=4][font="Arial"]Williams transferred the helm of the orbiting laboratory to Ford during a change of command ceremony on Saturday[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][img]http://im.rediff.com/news/2012/nov/19sd4.jpg[/img][/size]

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[size=4][font="Arial"]Three additional Expedition 34 flight engineers -- NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Roman Romanenko -- are scheduled to launch from Baikonur on December 19 and dock to the station two days later for a five-month stay.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=4][font="Arial"]Hadfield will become the first Canadian to command the station when Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin depart, marking the start of Expedition 35.[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color][color=#000000][font=arial, verdana, sans-serif, FreeSans][size=3]
[size=4][font="Arial"]The Soyuz remains the only means for international astronauts to reach the orbiting laboratory since the decommissioning of the US shuttle fleet in 2011[/font][/size][/size][/font][/color]
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