A US-Russian crew stranded in space by the shuttle tragedy were found alive and well yesterday after losing radio contact on re-entry and landing 300 miles off target in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

AN American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut boarded a space station 250 miles above earth yesterday, relieving a three-man crew forced to stay an extra two months in space as a result of the US Columbia tragedy.

The three crew members at the International Space Station were today said to be grieving after they were told about the Columbia disaster by a Nasa official.