La nave Soyuz regresa a la Tierra: "Maravilloso oler y sentir la primavera" (FOTOS)
La Soyuz TMA-07M ya está en tierra. Y con ella sus tres tripulantes, incluido el astronauta canadiense Chris Hadfield, que desde el espacio nos ha mostrado por qué no se puede llorar en él, cómo se cortan las uñas sin gravedad, a qué suena la vida allá arriba y cómo suena David Bowie.
Junto a él han compartido misión el cosmonauta ruso Román Romanenko y el estadounidense Thomas Marshburn.
La cápsula que trajo de regreso de la Estación Espacial Internacional a los tres astronautas tocó tierra en Kazajistán de madrugada en España. El aterrizaje, que fue seguido desde el aire por doce helicópteros y tres aviones, se produjo en la zona prevista, a unos 150 kilómetros al sureste de la ciudad kazaja de Dzhezkazgán.
La televisión rusa ofreció imágenes del aterrizaje de la cápsula retransmitidas en directo desde el CCVE, situado en las afueras de Moscú. "La tripulación soportó perfectamente el aterrizaje. Los cosmonautas están de muy buen ánimo", se anunció por los altavoces de la sala principal del CCVE, según la agencia oficial rusa RIA-Nóvosti.
El propio Hadfield ya ha tuiteado su llegada a la Tierra: "A salvo en casa. De vuelta en la Tierra, felizmente readaptándome al pesado empuje de la gravedad. Es maravilloso oler y sentir la primavera".
Los tripulantes de la Soyuz TMA-07M regresaron a la Tierra tras cumplir una misión espacial de 142 días, en el curso de la cual, además de cumplir un vasto programa de experimentos científicos, recibieron en la EEI dos cargueros espaciales, un ruso Progress y un estadounidense Dragon. Durante su estancia en la plataforma orbital, Romanenko y Marshburn realizaron sendas "caminatas" espaciales: el primero, una contemplada el plan de vuelo, y el segundo, una imprevista, para subsanar una fuga de amoniaco.
QUEDAN OTROS TRES
En la plataforma orbital quedaron tres tripulantes: los rusos Pável Vinográdov y Alexandr Misurkin y el estadounidense Chris Cassidy. A ellos se sumarán a fines mes otros tres astronautas: el ruso Fiódor Yurchijin, el italiano Luca Parmitano y la estadounidense Karen Nyberg, que volarán a la EEI a bordo de la Soyuz TMA-09M, cuyo despegue está programado para el próximo día 29.
Después de que los transbordadores estadounidenses fueran retirados de servicio, la naves rusas Soyuz son los únicos vehículos que se emplean para el relevo de las tripulaciones de la EEI.
Inicialmente estaba previsto que la plataforma orbital cerrara sus puertas en 2015, pero Rusia y los otros 15 países miembros han insistido en la importancia de prolongar su vida útil, en gran medida porque su construcción aún no ha sido completada. Además de Rusia, Estados Unidos, doce países miembros de la Unión Europea (UE), Japón y Canadá participan en el proyecto, con un coste de 100.000 millones dólares.
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Oil drilling draws a circuit board on the ochre landscape. pic.twitter.com/piYgOCsWYQ
Tonight's Finale: The Richat Structure. A giant gazing eye upon the Earth. pic.twitter.com/Uqv9JSh17b
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Cloud over western Europe, rippled like water over a stone. pic.twitter.com/nlryEezlwh
Perth on the Swan to the sea, Western Australia. pic.twitter.com/MvrIuCs8eT
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"The Earth has problem skin; one popped, the other didn't."
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Jefe de Política de El HuffPost