NASA pull out stops for safe spacecraft landing

Two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut on the space station finished packing tonight and crammed into a tiny Soyuz capsule to return to Earth.

The astronauts were supposed to get a shuttle ride back to Florida, but the fleet’s grounding after the Columbia’s disintegration on February 1 means they will touch down in the steppes of Kazakhstan, becoming the first Nasa astronauts to land in a foreign spacecraft – and in a foreign land.

Astronaut Kenneth Bowersox and his crew completed some last-minute packing as their 5 1/2-month stay neared its end, stuffing the docked Russian capsule for their ride home. After exchanging embraces and farewells with their replacement crew of two, Bowersox, astronaut Donald Pettit and cosmonaut Nikolai Budarin moved into the Soyuz capsule, and the hatches were closed, a Russian mission control official said.

Because the Soyuz is so cramped, Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin will bring back very little – mainly just a few small personal items, film, water and other environmental samples, and a handful of science experiments.

All their other belongings from 161 days in space were left behind to await home delivery by the next visiting shuttle – whenever that may be. That stash includes Pettit’s didgeridoo, an Australian Aboriginal horn he played to entertain his 2 1/2-year-old twin sons during video conferences.

The undocking was scheduled for about 11pm Irish time.

The ending is more tense than usual, not only because of the changes prompted by the Columbia disaster, but because this new Soyuz model has never gone through a descent before. The crew also will make the first re-entry from space since the shuttle accident killed seven astronauts.

Because of Columbia, “the eyes of the American public and Congress and everyone are going to be on this landing,” said Dr J D Polk, a flight surgeon specialised in emergency medicine. “We just don’t have any acceptance for any risk right now.”

Landing was set for 02.07am Irish time in the steppes 400 kilometres (250 miles) southwest of Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana.

Besides their usual medical kits, Polk and his fellow Nasa flight surgeon had a defibrillator, heart monitor, and trauma and resuscitation equipment on hand. In addition, US Air Force doctors and a miniature operating room were deployed for the parachuted spacecraft landing, and some major European hospitals were on alert.

“Even that much medical force is pale compared with we normally have” in Cape Canaveral, Florida., for shuttle landings, Polk said. “It probably is overkill, but you never want to say ’if only’ in the spaceflight business.”

The Russians, who typically have just a handful of doctors present for a Soyuz landing, have been understanding, Polk said.

Budarin, in a linkup to the station broadcast live on Russian state television on Saturday, played down worries about the new Soyuz making its first landing, emphasising that the differences from the previous model were “only modifications.”

“I have made two descents in a Soyuz and there were no problems at all, and I think there won’t be any problems this time,” he said.

Bowersox, speaking Russian, said the mission aboard the station went well.

“We carried out everything we intended to, but most important is that we worked well together as an international crew,” he said.

Bowersox, Pettit and Budarin were supposed to come home almost two months ago, but their return was delayed to give their replacements enough time to arrive aboard another Soyuz.

Astronaut Edward Lu and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko checked in last week for a six-month stay.

The wives of Bowersox and Pettit, along with Pettit’s twins, were waiting at Star City, the cosmonaut training headquarters near Moscow. So was Budarin’s family.

Jim Newman, an astronaut in charge of Nasa’s human spaceflight programme in Russia, expected Bowersox and Pettit to have a tough time adjusting to the new space reality, as everyone has.

“It’s not the space program that we had hoped because of the tragedy,” Newman said. “But we’re certainly ready for whatever comes.”