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Picture of the Day |
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 Photo credit: Bill Ingalls, NASA May 8, 2003: Astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit, who left the International Space Station on May 3rd, have had some unusual experiences in recent days. They were the first NASA astronauts to ride to Earth onboard a Soyuz space capsule. Although astronauts have traveled in capsules before, Bowersox and Pettit were the first to land in one on land--on the flat steppes of Kazakhstan in central Asia. And they landed 275 miles off target! When they finally made it to the Astana airport in Kazakhstan, they were greeted by this Kazakh girl in vivid traditional dress. Their Russian crewmate Nikolai Budarin had been there before, but for Bowersox and Pettit it was another first: an unusually lovely "welcome home." |