Station fliers return to Earth with flawless landing

Less than a week after winding up a successful spacewalk, outgoing space station commander Jeff Williams, America’s most experienced astronaut, joined two Russian cosmonauts for a fiery return to Earth Tuesday, closing out a 172-day mission with an on-target landing in Kazakhstan. Descending under a billowing orange-and-white parachute, the charred Soyuz crew module completed a jarring rocket-assisted touchdown at 9:13 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 7:13 a.m. Wednesday local time). As sometimes happens, the capsule tipped over on its side after landing, but Russian recovery crews stationed nearby were on the scene in minutes to tilt the spacecraft upright and to help the station fliers, getting their first taste of gravity in five-and-a-half months, out of the cramped compartment. More

(Source: CBS News - Sep 7)